Mass dismissals of Brazilian military personnel after riots
2023.01.18 15:54
Mass dismissals of Brazilian military personnel after riots
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – 13 additional military officers who were assigned to the National Security Advisor’s office, which is in charge of the president’s security, were fired on Wednesday by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
As Lula expressed his distrust in the military for failing to respond to supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed government buildings on Jan. 8, the decision comes in response to the removal of 40 military officers from the Alvorada presidential residence on Tuesday.
After what had transpired, the leftist president wondered how he could place his personal safety in the hands of military personnel.
According to government sources, the Federal Police would now be responsible for Lula’s safety.
Lula had previously stated that he had the suspicion that “people in the Armed Forces” were involved in the uprising that saw several thousand Bolsonaro supporters storm the Congress building, the presidential offices in Planalto, and the Supreme Court.
The demonstrators were calling for a military coup to remove Lula and replace the far-right populist leader after Bolsonaro lost the elections in October.
The violence brought to mind the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
