“Bolsonaro’s supporter arrested for pushing for military coup in Brazil”- Says Federal Police
In less than a week to the swearing-in ceremony of the President-Elect , Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , Brazil mount forces against possibilities of military coup and assasination attempts on the 1st of January , 2023
Since Lula defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the polls , the green-and-yellow-clad protesters (the colors of Brazil’s flag) have been filmed asking for military intervention, quoting wrongful interpretations of the federal Constitution, celebrating fake news, and claiming they will not accept “communism” in the country.
The Bolsonaristas have camped out in public spaces, blocked highways, and protested in front of military units throughout the country, stopping supplies transportation in some places, claiming they wanted “to save Brazil,” and demanding Lula, a president elected by over 60 million citizens , not be sworn=in by January.
Almost a month after the run-off, these antidemocratic acts continue. An armed forces report on the ballots affirmed it couldn’t identify fraud or inconsistencies in the process, but since the document was fairly ambiguous, it helped to feed mistrust in the electoral system.
Adding to the chaos, Bolsonaro and his party, PL (Liberal Party), submitted a request to the Electoral Court to consider annulling votes cast in ballots created before 2020, claiming the equipment used to make them then couldn’t be properly audited, which experts say is untrue, according to news broadcast Jornal Nacional.
The models appointed in the request represent around 60 percent of the ballots used. PL’s request, a party that elected the largest bench for the House in 2023 in the first round, mentions only the run-off. Justice Alexandre de Moraes declined the request and gave the party a BRL 22.9 million fine (around USD 4.2 million) for “bad faith with the process.”
A President Jair Bolsonaro follower was arrested during the weekend for planning an attack to prevent President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva from taking office on 1st Jan. 2023
The fight against terrorists and troublemakers will be intensified. Democracy has won and will win,” Dino also pointed out on social media
“I decided to draw up a plan with the demonstrators at the Army Headquarters to provoke the intervention of the Armed Forces and the declaration of a state of siege to prevent the establishment of communism in Brazil,” said Businessman George Washington de Oliveira Sousa, who was formally charged with terrorism after confessing to building the explosive device that was placed in a fuel tanker truck.
The artifact was defused Saturday by the explosives brigade before the vehicle reached Brasilia’s international airport. De Oliveira, 54, was arrested on Saturday. When authorities raided his property they found a sizeable arsenal consisting of two shotguns, a rifle, two revolvers, three pistols, 1,000 rounds of ammunition, camouflage uniforms, and five explosive emulsions used in mining and similar to the one used in the device defused Saturday.
According to parts of the interrogation to which he was subjected, released Sunday by the Civil Police of the Federal District, the defendant admitted other Bolsonaristas were involved in his plan: they are camped in front of the Army headquarters in Brasília to ask for a coup d’état to prevent Lula’s inauguration. The intention was to “start a chaos” that would force the authorities to declare a state of siege that would spark the military uprising.
Sousa, who reportedly lives in the Amazon state of Pará, has been in Brasília since Nov. 12 with groups of Bolsonaro supporters camped out in front of the Army barracks who negate Lula’s victory in the October presidential election.
“Saturday’s serious events in Brasilia prove that such ‘patriotic’ camps became incubators of terrorists,” Lula’s future Justice Minister Flávio Dino said. “There is no political pact possible and there will be no amnesty for terrorists, their supporters, and financiers,” he added.
Dino also pointed out that in light of these events, all security measures regarding Lula’s inauguration will be reviewed and vowed that the ceremony “will take place in peace.”
“The fight against terrorists and troublemakers will be intensified. Democracy has won and will win,” Dino also pointed out on social media. Dino also said he would recommend that the Public Prosecutor’s Office constitutes “special groups to combat terrorism and irresponsible armament,” while underlining that “the rule of law is not compatible with these political militias.”
At least 17 heads of state or government, including the King of Spain and the Presidents of Germany, Portugal, Argentina, and Uruguay, are expected to attend the Jan. 1 inauguration, in addition to some 300,000 people who are to participate in a music festival marking the beginning of Lula’s third term.
