© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil gather outside the Brazilian National Assembly after invading the building as well as the presidential palace and Supreme Court, in Brasilia, Brazil January 8, 2023 REUTERS/Antonio Cascio/Fil
By Ricardo Brito and Anthony Boadle
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s 11-day-old government braced itself on Wednesday for more protests by supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who have attacked documents government chambers on Sunday raised fears of a violent and disruptive opposition.
The government of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stepped up security measures across the country as leaflets appeared on social media in support of Bolsonaro calling for mass protests in Brazilian cities to ” regain power”.
Organizers of anti-government protests in recent weeks have taken to social media to call for road closures and oil refineries, power lines to collapse and enough chaos to spur a coup. military politics to overturn the election that Bolsonaro lost.
Lula’s chief of staff, Rui Costa, said late Tuesday after a cabinet meeting: “We have measures in place this Wednesday to increase security across the country because of the pamphlets about the meetings. New demonstrations have been circulated.
Ricardo Cappelli, the federal official in charge of public safety in the capital since Sunday, said all security forces had been mobilized to prevent protests and that the riots would not be repeated.
“Those who lost the election and are trying to create a crisis will not succeed,” Cappelli told a news conference.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued an injunction banning barricades that have been used by anti-government protesters to cause economic disruption and ordered local authorities to prevent barricades from entering public buildings. add.
The judge also agreed to the government’s request for companies found to be logistically funding protests blocking public roads or storming public buildings.
Prosecutors have sought to freeze Bolsonaro’s assets and arrest warrants were issued on Tuesday for officials responsible for public security in Brasilia over the weekend.
AGAINST INSTITUTIONS
On Sunday, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the capital, ransacking the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential offices in the worst assault on democratic institutions since the dictatorship. Military talent ended in 1985.
Bolsonaro, who left Brazil 48 hours before his term ended and has yet to conceded defeat to Lula in the October election, said on social media from Florida that he planned to return to Brazil earlier than planned due to reasons medican.
In the clearest public attack on the legitimacy of the October election since he lost, Bolsonaro posted a video on social media late Tuesday saying Lula had lost the vote.
The post disappeared shortly after. The former president, who Lula says fueled the protests, did not mention Sunday’s riots. Bolsonaro’s son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, said he could not be blamed for the violence because he was so restrained in his public comments.
Moraes issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for Bolsonaro’s former justice minister, Anderson Torres, who became Brasilia’s director of public security after Lula took office on January 1.
Torres was fired for failing to stop Sunday’s chaos and a warrant for his arrest accused him of complicity with protesters, who marched to the center of the capital under police escort. .
Torres was not in the city during the riot, having flown to Florida earlier this month. He said on Twitter on Tuesday that he had always said he would return to Brazil from Orlando, where he was vacationing with his family, and bring himself to justice.
Moraes also ordered the arrest of Fabio Augusto Vieira, the head of the Brasilia military police, one of the officials responsible for protecting government buildings in Brasilia.
On Tuesday, prosecutors at the federal audit court, known as the TCU, asked the court to freeze the assets of Bolsonaro and Torres, as well as that of former Brasilia governor Ibaneis Rocha, who was removed by Moraes. for failing to contain Sunday’s rampage in the capital.
Authorities restored order in Brasilia on Monday and soldiers lifted a camp outside the army headquarters where Bolsonaro supporters had called for a military coup since Lula won won the election in October. More than 1,000 people have been arrested and are being questioned by the police.
