An agent walks past the head of a statue depicting the Greek goddess Themis, outside the Brazilian Supreme Court building that was damaged by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, January 10, 2023.
Eraldo Peres/AP
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Eraldo Peres/AP
An agent walks past the head of a statue depicting the Greek goddess Themis, outside the Brazilian Supreme Court building that was damaged by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, January 10, 2023.
Eraldo Peres/AP
BRASILIA, Brazil — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired the commander of the Brazilian military on Saturday just days after the leftist leader publicly said that some military members had allowed extremist protesters to The right to wage an uprising on January 8 in the capital.
The official website of the Brazilian armed forces said that General Julio Cesar de Arruda has been sacked as head of the army. He was replaced by General Tomás Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, head of the Southeast Military Command.
Lula, who has not commented publicly on the shooting, met with Defense Minister Jose Mucio, chief of staff Rui Costa and the new army commander in Brasilia later in the day. Speaking to journalists afterward, Mucio said the January 8 riots had caused a “rift in trust” among the highest levels of the military and the government decided change was needed. .
In recent weeks, Lula has criticized the military after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings and destroyed public property in an attempt to keep Bolsonaro in power.
The uprising underscores the polarization in Brazil between the left and the right.
Lula has said many times in public that there were certainly people in the military who allowed the riots to happen, although he never cited Arruda.
During a breakfast with the press, Lula said earlier this week that “a lot of people from the military police and armed forces were complicit” and had allowed protesters to enter the buildings with the doors open. In another interview, the president said that “all troops involved in the coup plot will be punished, regardless of rank.”
The comments came after Lula scheduled several meetings with the defense minister and armed forces commanders. Mucio denied they were referring to the January 8 riots, but he said the relationship between the military and the government needed to be adjusted.
On the eve of Arruda’s dismissal, a video of Paiva’s speech earlier this week was released in which he said election results should be respected to ensure democracy.
Rioters stormed the Brazilian National Assembly, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in Brasilia seeking to get the military to intervene and overturn Bolsonaro’s defeat to Lula in the presidential election.
In a video posted on social media from inside the presidential palace on the day of the attack, a colonel is seen trying to stop police from arresting Bolsonaro supporters who have invaded the building. He asked for patience from the military police, which reported to the authorities of the federal district.
More than a thousand people were arrested on the day of the riot and the morning after the riot, which bears many similarities to the January 6, 2021 riots in the US Congress by mobs who wanted to overturn the defeat. in the election of former President Donald Trump.
A Brazilian Supreme Court judge earlier this month authorized Bolsonaro’s addition to the investigation of who incited the riots in Brasilia as part of a broader crackdown aimed at holding accountable parties. responsibility.
According to the text of his ruling, Judge Alexandre de Moraes granted a request from the prosecutor general’s office, which cited a video Bolsonaro posted on Facebook two days after the riot. The video claims Lula was not elected to office but was chosen by Brazil’s Supreme Court and electoral authority.
Lula tried to reduce the large number of military officers in the administration left by Bolsonaro. At least 140 military officers have been dismissed since Lula took office on January 1.
