The newly formed Brazil government is gearing up for a new wave of protests by the supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro following the weekend invasion of key government buildings by them in an apparent attempt to topple the administration.
Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva beefed up security outside Planalto Palace, National Congress and Supreme Federal Court on Wednesday after a flyer encouraging demonstrators to participate in the “mega-protest to retake power” was circulated on social media, urging them to turn out in two dozen cities, including the capital, Al Jazeera reported.
Uncertain authorities took no chances to avoid the repeat of Sunday’s riots despite the fact that it was unclear how huge or violent such rallies might turn out to be.
“We have measures for this Wednesday to reinforce security throughout the country since pamphlets of new demonstrations have been circulated,” Lula’s chief of staff, Rui Costa, said late on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting, Argus media reported. “All the public security forces are mobilized” to protect Brasilia from a repeat, deputy justice minister Ricardo Cappelli told reporters.
According to a court ruling, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, citing the social media action ordered local government officials on Wednesday to stop road blockades and the invasion of public facilities, according to Reuters.
On January 8, Bolsonaro supporters invaded Congress, the presidential palace, and the supreme court in Brasilia. Some highways were briefly shut as a result, but they have since been unblocked. The 8th and 9th of January saw damage to power transmission towers and wires in the states of Parana and Rondonia.
The federal district police said that at least 1,500 persons who stormed the buildings have been detained thus far. The police released around 684 detainees for “humanitarian reasons,” including elderly people, those with health issues and parents of young children, Reuters reported.
Protest organisers have recently been urging people to block roads and refineries, cut down power lines, and create enough disruption to trigger a military coup that would overturn the election Bolsonaro lost to Lula in October.
During a news conference, Cappelli, who was appointed as the federal official in charge of public security in the capital after Sunday’s riots said, “Those who lost the election and are trying to create a crisis will not succeed.”
In a tough race, Bolsonaro lost the runoff election to da Silva, who received 50.9% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 49.1%. The former far-right president’s remarks that votes should be “invalidated” due to supposed polling machine issues probably led to the deadly rioting on Sunday.
Despite the fact that there is no proof of election fraud, demonstrators assert that far-right Bolsonaro was the genuine winner on October 30.
(With inputs from agencies)
