CNN –
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vowed on Sunday to punish hundreds of supporters of the country’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro after they stormed key government buildings, smashed windows and used furniture to form barricades against security forces .
In a press conference, Lula described the events in the capital Brasília as “barbaric” and said that the “lack of security” had allowed Bolsonaro’s “fascist” supporters to break through the barriers set up by the Armed Forces outside the Congress building, the Supreme Court and the Planalto Presidential Palace.
“These people are everything that is abominable in politics,” he said, adding that “all the people who did this will be found and punished.”
Footage on Sunday showed massive crowds in Brasilia climbing a ramp to the Congress building, where they had reached the Green Room, located outside the Chamber of the Lower House of Congress, the Acting President of the Congress told CNN Brasil Senate, Veneziano Vital do Rogo.
Other media showed Bolsonaro’s supporters entering the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, where CNN Brasil showed the arrival of riot police and the Brazilian Armed Forces. The floor of the Congress building was flooded after the sprinkler system was activated when protesters tried to set fire to the carpet, according to CNN Brasil. Additional videos showed protesters inside the building taking gifts received from international delegations and destroying artwork.
Writing on Twitter on Sunday, Bolsonaro also denounced the actions of his supporters, saying that while peaceful and lawful demonstrations were part of democracy, “the depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017″. escape the rule”.
The breaches come about a week after the inauguration of Lula da Silva, whose return to power after a 12-year hiatus comes after he defeated Bolsonaro in a run-off election on 30 October
Bolsonaro’s administration previously said it was cooperating with the transition of power, but the far-right leader has stopped short of explicitly acknowledging his electoral loss and left the country for the United States ahead of the inauguration. Lula
By Sunday evening, several hours after the breaches, the three buildings had been cleared of protesters, CNN Brasil reported. At least 400 people have been arrested, Federal District Governor Ibaneis Rocha said.
Those arrested “will pay for the crimes committed”, tweeted Rocha, adding that they are “working to identify all the others who participated in these terrorist acts this afternoon”.
Speaking to reporters, Brazil’s Justice Minister Flavio Dino called Sunday’s events a “coup” and said the government would tighten security in the capital.
“There are still people on the Internet saying that they will continue with terrorist acts. (But) they will not be able to destroy Brazilian democracy”, he added.
Paulo Pimenta, the Minister of Communications, published a video on Sunday evening of a walking tour of his office at Palau Planalto. The video shows overturned furniture and offices along a hallway in disarray.
“I’m in my office on the second floor of Palau de Planalto, as you can see everything was destroyed,” Pimenta says in the video. “This is a criminal thing that was done here, this is something revolting. Works of art… Look at what the vandals did here, the chaos the vandals did here. Destroyed works of art, heritage of the country”.
Bolsonaro’s supporters have been camped out in the capital since his electoral defeat. Justice Minister Dino had authorized the Armed Forces on Saturday to set up barriers and guard the Congress building due to the continued presence of Bolsonaro’s supporters.
Brazilian officials condemned the protesters’ actions, which were reminiscent of Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to prevent the certification of the 2020 election and President Joe Biden’s victory over the ‘former president Donald Trump.
“The National Congress has never denied a voice to those who want to demonstrate peacefully. But it will never give rise to unrest, destruction and vandalism,” Arthur Lira, president of the Lower House of Congress, said on Twitter. “Those responsible for promoting and carrying out this attack on Brazilian democracy and its main symbols have to be identified and punished in accordance with the law”.
“Today is a sad day for the Brazilian nation,” Valdemar Costa Neto, head of Bolsonaro’s right-wing Liberal Party, said in a statement late Sunday.
“We cannot agree with the predation of the National Congress. All ordered demonstrations are legitimate. Disorder has never been part of the principles of our nation,” said Neto. “I want to tell you that we strongly condemn this type of attitude. And that the law must be obeyed, strengthening our democracy.”
Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office (MPF) said in a statement that it is investigating all those involved in the violations.
“The Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, monitors and follows with concern the acts of vandalism to public buildings that occurred in Brasilia this Sunday (8),” the MPF said.
Now he has also “asked the Attorney General of the Federal District (PRDF) to immediately open a criminal investigation procedure to demand accountability from those involved.”
Several hours after the violation, Brazil’s Federal District Military Police (PMDF) said in a statement that they had begun dispersing pro-Bolsonaro protesters inside the buildings.
Those identified as taking part in “vandal acts” were taken to the police station, according to the PMDF.
Federal District Security Secretary Anderson Torres, a former justice minister under Bolsonaro’s government, also described the scenes as “deplorable” and added that he had ordered “immediate months to restore order in the center of Brasilia”.
Torres, who was Justice Minister under Bolsonaro, was appointed to the Federal District office by current Governor Rocha, but was dismissed after Sunday’s breaches.
Rocha posted a video on YouTube Sunday night apologizing for the assault on federal public buildings.
“What happened was unacceptable,” Rocha said. “We did not believe at all that the demonstrations would take the proportions they did. They are real vandals, real terrorists, and they will have all the fights with me to punish them.”
Brazil’s Federal Public Defender (AGU) asked the country’s Supreme Court to issue an arrest warrant against Torres and “other public agents responsible for acts and omissions.”
The AGU also called for “the immediate evacuation of all federal public buildings throughout the country and the dissolution of the anti-democratic acts carried out in the vicinity of the barracks and other military units.”
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday afternoon condemned the violence in Brazil’s capital and “any effort to undermine democracy in Brazil.”
“President Biden is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering. Brazil’s democracy will not be shaken by violence,” Sullivan wrote on Twitter.
Portugal’s government said in a statement that it condemned “the acts of violence and disorder that took place today in Brasilia” and pledged support for authorities “to restore order and legality.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, has joined other world leaders in offering support to President Lula: “The will of the Brazilian people and democratic institutions must be respected! President Lula da Silva can count with the unconditional support of France,” Macron said on Twitter.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has also condemned “the attack on the democratic institutions of Brazil” and has pledged his support to the Brazilian president, as have Spain and Colombia.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the “assault on Brazil’s democratic institutions.”
“The will of the Brazilian people and the country’s institutions must be respected,” he said.