Lula condemns raid on Brazil’s Congress by Bolsonaro supporters, orders military intervention
President allows use of armed forces to contain Bolsonaro supporters following storming of National Congress
Bala Chambers |09.01.2023
BUENOS AIRES
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decreed a federal intervention allowing the armed forces to contain hundreds of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro after they stormed the National Congress on Sunday.
Bolsonaro supporters managed to invade and ransack three branches of government in the capital Brasilia -- the Planalto Palace, or President's office, Congress and the Supreme Federal Court, according to Brazil news portal G1
At a press conference, Lula strongly condemned the incident, pledging to hold those who had taken part responsible.
"All these people who did this will be found and will be punished. They will realize that democracy guarantees the right to freedom, free communication and free expression, but it also requires people to respect the institutions that were created to strengthen democracy," he said.
"These people, vandals, Nazis and fanatical fascists did what has never been done in the history of this country," he added.
On Twitter, Lula also vowed to find out who has been financially backing the far-right groups who participated in the attack and raids, insisting that "they will all pay with the force of law."
"This had never happened in this country, not even in the (19)60s, that a group would go and commit such acts in the House of Representatives," he said at the press conference.
According to the Metropoles news outlet, at around 2.40 p.m. (1740GMT) on Sunday, Bolsonaro supporters invaded the National Congress, managing to bypass barricades erected by security forces, and entered the Planalto Palacio.
A number of videos show Bolsonaro supporters shouting, climbing on the rooftop and surrounding the building, many dressed in Brazil football tops and carrying the green and yellow national flag.
They broke windows, chairs and tables and threatened a number of officials working there as the raid continued.
According to Metropoles, the last target of the extremist demonstrators was the Supreme Federal Court, with the judiciary building being invaded around 3.45 p.m.
According to G1, the coup movement, which has been ongoing for weeks in Brasilia, was joined on Sunday by droves of buses that arrived over the weekend, with 150 Bolsonaro supporters arrested by 6.45 p.m. local time as security personnel took back Congress, the Supreme Court and Planalto Palacio.
Bolsonaro lost to Lula in a tight race on Oct. 30. Lula garnered 50.9% of the vote compared to Bolsonaro’s 49.1%, according to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
In the aftermath of Lula's win, Bolsonaro supporters demonstrated, many blocking highways across the country and pushing for the military to intervene.
Lula was sworn in as president of Brazil for a third term on Jan. 1, 2023.
Lula vows to punish Brazilian Congress invaders
By Katy Watson in São Paulo and George Wright in London
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says the perpetrators will be found and punished after supporters of Brazilian far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress.
The dramatic scenes come a week after the left-wing veteran's inauguration.
Supporters of Bolsonaro - who refuses to accept that he lost the election - also stormed the Supreme Court and surrounded the presidential palace.
Police used tear gas but failed to repel the demonstrators.
Da Silva - better known as Lula - said there was "no precedent in the history of our country" for the scenes seen in the capital, Brasilia, on Sunday.
He called the violence the "acts of vandals and fascists".
Protesters have smashed windows, while others reached the Senate chamber, where they jumped on to seats and used benches as slides.
It is unclear if they are still in the building.
A supporter of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro throws stones at security forces during clashes outside Planalto Presidential Palace in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Photo: AFP / Sergio Lima
Footage on social media shows protesters pulling a policeman from his horse and attacking him outside the building.
Lima, a 27-year-old production engineer, said: "We need to re-establish order after this fraudulent election.
"I'm here for history, for my daughters," she told the AFP news agency.
Many are drawing comparisons with the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro's supporters are calling for military intervention and the resignation of Lula, who defeated his far-right rival in October's election.
Many of them created camps in cities across Brazil, some of them outside the military barracks. That's because his most ardent supporters want the military to intervene and make good elections that they say were stolen.
It looked like their movement had been curbed by Lula's inauguration - the camps in Brasilia had been dismantled and there was no disruption on the day he was sworn in.
But Sunday's scenes show that those predictions were premature.
Justice and Public Security Minister Flavio Dino called the invasion "an absurd attempt to impose [the protesters'] will by force".
"It will not prevail," he wrote on Twitter.
Leaders from Latin America have condemned the violence.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric said Brazil has its "full support in the face of this cowardly and vile attack on democracy".
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said "fascism has decided to stage a coup", while Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico expresses "full support for President Lula's administration, elected by popular will".
Lula is currently on an official trip in São Paulo state.
In his inauguration speech, he vowed to rebuild a country in "terrible ruins".
He decried the policies of his predecessor, who went to the US to avoid the handover ceremony.
- BBC
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