Security forces Brazil managed to regain control of the Congress Palace, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court, previously attacked by supporters of the former President Jair Bolsonaro. The raid has unleashed chaos in the capital Brasilia.
As reported AFP extensionMonday (01/09/2023), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who has served as Brazil’s new president since being sworn in last week, denounced the attack on Sunday (8/1) local time as a “fascist” attack.
“These fascist fanatics have done something that has never happened before in the history of this country. We will find out who these troublemakers are and we will confront them with the full force of the law,” said Lula (77) as he monitored the chaotic situation in government buildings in Brasilia.
In a landscape that remembers assault on the Capitol in the United States (USA) by supporters of the former president Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, Bolsonaro supporters overwhelmed the police personnel who were at the scene.
Tear gas, cheese grenades and water cannons were used by police to repel rioters, who rampaged through the halls of the Brazilian Congress building until they were finally overwhelmed.
According to local media reports, at least 170 arrests have been made in connection with the raid. Local television footage showed police officers escorting Bolsonaro supporters out of the Planalto Presidential Palace.
Bolsonaro in his response via Twitter condemned what he called “the looting and invasion of public buildings”. But Bolsonaro, nicknamed the ‘Trump of the Tropics’, categorically rejects Lula’s accusations that he instigated the raid and defends the right to hold ‘peaceful protests’.
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