Brazil security forces clear Bolsonaro supporters' riot camps

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Jan 08:34

Brazilian security forces dismantle improvised camps nationwide set by far-right supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazilian security forces clearing riot camps set by far-right supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro (Amanda Perobelli/Reuters)

Brazilian security forces cleared riot camps Monday and arrested 1,500 people as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned "acts of terrorism" after far-right supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro broke into the country's Planalto presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme court building on Sunday.

Hundreds of soldiers and police mobilized to dismantle an improvised camp set by some 3,000 Bolsonaro supporters outside the army's headquarters in Brasilia. This comes after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the security forces to disperse anti-government riots outside military bases nationwide.

Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting outside army barracks calling for a military intervention to keep Lula from power since his election win. Following the ruling, soldiers and police broke up camps in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, as well as Brasilia.

Moraes also suspended Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a Bolsonaro ally, from his post for 90 days, on grounds of "criminal negligence".

Lula, who took office on January 1 after a bitterly divisive election win over Bolsonaro, returned to work in the presidential palace. The 77-year-old leftist who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010 met with the leaders of both houses of Congress and the chief justice of the Supreme Court and joined them in condemning what many called the South American country's version of the US Capitol riots in Washington two years ago.

"The three powers of the republic, the defenders of democracy and the constitution, reject the terrorist acts and criminal, coup-mongering vandalism that occurred," they said in a joint statement.

Bolsonaro hospitalized

On his part, Bolsonaro tweeted that he had been hospitalized in Florida with abdominal pains stemming from a near-fatal knife attack when he was campaigning for the presidency in 2018.

Bolsonaro has alleged that he is the victim of a conspiracy against him by Brazil's courts and electoral authorities.

The ex-President traveled to Orlando on the second-to-last day of his term -- snubbing Lula's inauguration, in a break with tradition.

Bolsonaro, 67, took to Twitter Sunday night to condemn the "pillaging" in Brasilia but rejected Lula's accusations that he incited the attacks and defended the right to what he called "peaceful protests".

Pope Francis criticizes riots

In the aftermath of the riots, hundreds of people gathered along a major avenue in downtown Sao Paulo to defend Brazilian democracy and demand punishment for the people who stormed the halls of power a day earlier.

The demonstrators included young people, entire families, labor union activists, anti-racism advocates, and others, with banners reading: "We are with Lula and for democracy" and "Respect for the people's vote."

Pope Francis joined world leaders in condemning the far riots, criticizing them as a sign of "weakening of democracy" in the Americas.

Lula to visit the White House in early February

In a related context, Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned, in a joint statement ahead of summit talks in Mexico City, the attacks and said they "stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions."

The White House said that Biden spoke with Lula by phone Monday and invited him to visit the White House in early February, confirming that the Brazilian leader accepted the invitation.

In a statement, the White House indicated that Biden told Lula of his support for "the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazil's recent presidential election, which President Lula won."

Many drew the inevitable comparison to January 6, 2021, when supporters of then-US President Donald Trump invaded the Capitol in Washington in a violent, failed bid to stop Congress from certifying his election loss.

Lula, who was in the southeastern city of Araraquara visiting a flood-hit region when the riots started, signed a decree Sunday declaring a federal intervention in Brasilia, giving his government special powers over the local police force to restore law and order in the capital.

The Brazilian President's government vowed to find and arrest those who planned and financed the attacks.