Brazil: Lula administration knew about riot beforehand, says official
Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and a top justice minister knew about the January 8th riot that breached federal buildings in advance, according to Senator Marcos do Val.
Brazil’s government has arrested over 1,230 political prisoners in connection to the January 8th protest by demonstrators who stormed the Planalto, Alvorada and Jaburu Palaces — the seats of the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential office — in protest of fraudulent elections.
Millions of Brazilians have spent months protesting the presidential election, declared in October for Lula, a Leftist former president who was imprisoned for corruption. Many insist the election was fraudulent and continue to demand that Right-leaning President Jair Bolsonaro retain his seat.
For over two months, civil unrest has plagued Brazil’s cities and streets after voting machine audits found significant voting regularities which may have helped Lula cross the finish line with 50.7% of the vote, the narrowest margin in Brazil’s history. Some areas also reported zero votes going to Bolsonaro.
Sen. Marcos do Val says that Lula and Justice Minister Flávio Dino, a member of Brazil’s Socialist Party, were informed of last week’s riot beforehand.
“The Minister of Justice was informed of the attacks the day before. The moment it started, he went to the ministry window, looked out and did nothing. I have already started to find evidence that President Lula was also aware of what was going to happen and did nothing”, Senator do Val tweeted. He included a copy of a letter he sent to Justice Minister Dino, demanding to know what he knew in advance of the riot.
Senator Val’s accusation falls in line with reports that the riot was designed to match the January 6th protest in the US in order to crack down on Right-leaning opponents of those in power.
Aside from allegedly having prior knowledge of the riot, Lula’s allies were already invoking January 6th to justify harsh measures against those questioning the presidential election results.
Furthermore, the rioters who breached the buildings allegedly had help from the inside, a claim Lula himself corroborated.
Following the Brazil protest, the New York Times reported that many of the protesters Sunday confirmed the breaches of the federal buildings themselves and the vandalism they involved were the work of infiltrators.
“Have you ever heard of the Trojan Horse?” one protester, Nathanael S. Viera, 51, told the Times. “The infiltrators went in and set everything up, and the damn press showed the Brazilian nation that we patriots are the hooligans.”
“Donald Trump was taken out with a rigged election, no question about it, and at the time he was taken out, I said, ‘President Bolsonaro is going to be taken down,’” said Wanderlei Silva, 59. “The Democrats staged that and invaded the Capitol,” he added. “The same way they staged it here.”
Footage from the protest appears to show militant provocateurs among the protesters. Demonstrators can be seen tackling the alleged infiltrators and preventing further damage to government property.
