Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva confirmed on Thursday that he is convinced that the demonstrators who stormed the presidential palace in Brasilia on Sunday received help from within, announcing a “deep check” of personnel.
“I am convinced that the doors of the Planalto Palace were opened for people to enter because not a single door was open,” the leftist leader said during the first breakfast with reporters after his January 1 inauguration.
“It means that someone facilitated their infiltration here,” he said. “How could someone stand in front of my office door and shoot me?” – he asked.
Demanding Biden to revoke Bolsonaro’s visa
In this regard, a group of 46 Democratic deputies sent a letter to US President Joe Biden demanding that the diplomatic visa of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro be canceled in connection with the violence in the Brazilian capital by his supporters.
Thursday’s report confirmed Bolsonaro’s responsibility for the chaos. Lawmakers cited his claims that the electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud and his failure to admit defeat, not to mention his failure to ask his supporters to respect the results.
MPs stressed that the United States should not give safe haven to Bolsonaro or any autocrat who incites violence against democratic institutions.
Thousands of supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who rejected his electoral defeat by Lula in late October, wreaked havoc in the capital on Sunday after storming the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and Congress.
And they have committed acts of vandalism, including artifacts, reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol building in Washington by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
More than 2,000 people were arrested in the aftermath of the riots, with 1,159 of them imprisoned, according to the latest figures released by the authorities.
Authorities are investigating who orchestrated the attack and how the protesters were funded.
“We will conduct a quiet investigation to understand what really happened,” said the 77-year-old, who is serving his third presidential term in Brazil. “The fact is that the palace was full of Bolsonaro supporters and the military, and we want to see if we can fix (the situation) by hiring professional personnel, preferably civilians or those who were here before or who were removed,” he said. . said.
