Brazilian authorities preparing for increase in protests
2023.01.11 08:54
Brazilian authorities preparing for increase in protests
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – On Wednesday, supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro prepared Brazil’s 11-day-old government for more anti-democratic demonstrations that posed a threat to the country’s political stability.
As flyers calling for massive demonstrations in Brazilian cities to “retake power” appeared on pro-Bolsonaro social media, the government of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva increased national security measures.
Lula’s chief of staff, Rui Costa, stated late on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting, “We have measures for this Wednesday to reinforce security throughout the country since pamphlets of new demonstrations have been distributed.”
The government’s Solicitor General requested that the Supreme Court prohibit the eviction of public buildings and the setting up of roadblocks across Brazil in response to the possibility of new protests.
Additionally, his office requested a temporary halt to demonstrations and fines for businesses found to be financing anti-democratic protest logistics.
Bolsonaro’s assets have been blocked by authorities, and on Tuesday, arrest warrants were issued for public security officials in Brasilia for allowing an insurrection.
In the worst attack on democracy since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the power centers in Brasilia on Sunday and looted the presidential offices, Congress, and Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro, who left Brazil 48 hours before the end of his term and hasn’t conceded defeat to Lula in the October elections, posted on social media from Florida that he would be returning to Brazil sooner than expected for medical reasons.
On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued an arrest warrant for Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro’s former justice minister who served as Brasilia’s public security chief following Lula’s January 1 election.
The arrest warrant cited connivance with the demonstrators, who marched unimpeded and were in fact escorted by police cars to the center of the capital. Torres was fired for failing to quell the protests on Sunday.
Torres flew to Florida earlier this month, so he was not in the city during the riots. He stated on Twitter on Tuesday that he would surrender himself and return to Brazil from Orlando, where he was enjoying a family vacation.
Justice Moraes also requested that the head of Brasilia’s military police, Fabio Augusto Vieira, be arrested. Vieira is one of a number of officials who are in charge of protecting important government buildings in Brasilia.
The assets of Bolsonaro and Torres, as well as those of former Brasilia governor Ibaneis Rocha, who was removed by Justice Moraes for failing to stop Sunday’s rampage in the capital, were requested by prosecutors at the federal audits court, TCU, on Tuesday.
On Monday, authorities in Brasilia restored order, and soldiers dismantled a camp outside the army headquarters where supporters of Bolsonaro had called for a military coup after Lula won the elections in October. Police were questioning more than 1,000 people who had been taken into custody.
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