Abin document contradicts former minister on 1/8 – 04/29/2023 – Power

The Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) document that shows the sending of alerts to federal government agencies and the DF about possible invasions on January 8 contradicts the version presented by former minister Gonçalves Dias, of the GSI (Institutional Security Office ), in his statement to the Federal Police.

According to the report obtained by the SheetGDias —as the former minister is known— would have received 11 reports on his own WhatsApp from January 6th until the beginning of the attacks, around 3 pm on the 8th.

Of the total, three messages would have been forwarded exclusively to the former minister, without transfer to the bodies that make up Sisbin (Brazilian Intelligence System).

The official document contradicts the version presented by the former minister in his testimony to the PF. To the investigators, Gonçalves Dias said that he only learned about the alerts being sent when he had to prepare, in mid-January, a response to requests for information from the CCAI (Mixed Commission for the Control of Intelligence Activities) of the National Congress.

“Asked if he had received intelligence information from Abin regarding the increase in the flow of buses and the arrival of people after January 6 at BSB, [o ex-ministro] informed that it did not receive any intelligence report”, says an excerpt from the testimony.

The document obtained by Sheet is a compilation of messages distributed by WhatsApp —in groups or individually— between January 2nd and 8th.

The practice of using the messaging application for this purpose became common in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, during General Augusto Heleno’s management at the GSI. At the time, Abin was led by delegate and current federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ) —who should be nominated for the mixed CPI on January 8th.

According to the statement, the former minister stated “that the messages on the 8th in the morning included people making angry speeches, threatening to invade public buildings of the Republic; [e] that the compilation of messages cannot technically be considered an intelligence report for the production of knowledge to assist the manager’s decision”.

GDias also said that, even after receiving the document from Abin with all the messages sent on the eve of January 8, “there was no relevant information” in the communiqués.

“He [GDias] was not alerted by any agency or official body before the January 8 acts. Contrary to what was disclosed, the general promoted all efforts within his power to ensure that nothing more serious occurred, as will be proven at the end of all ongoing investigations”, says lawyer André Callegari, who defends the former minister.

The content of the messages sent by WhatsApp already indicated on the night of Friday, January 6, the possibility of “violent actions” and invasion of the headquarters of the Powers, according to the Abin document.

“The prospect of joining the demonstrations against the result of the election called for Brasilia for the 7th, 8th and 9th of January 2023 remains low. However, there is a risk of violent actions against public buildings and authorities”, says an excerpt from the message —the first which would have been sent to the former minister.

“We highlight the call by caravan organizers for the displacement of demonstrators with access to weapons and the manifest intention of invading the National Congress. Other buildings on the Esplanada dos Ministérios could be the target of violent actions”, completes the text, sent at 7:40 pm.

At 10:30 am on January 7th, Saturday, Abin sends a new update on the events scheduled for that weekend.

“In Brasilia, there are records of the arrival at the Army HQ of 18 buses from other states to participate in demonstrations. There are still calls for violent actions and attempts to occupy public buildings, mainly on the Esplanada dos Ministérios.”

The three messages sent directly to Gonçalves Dias, according to the report, were updates from the 8th of January itself.

“About 100 buses arrived in Brasília/DF for the scheduled events on the Esplanada”, says the text at 8:53 am.

At 12:05 am, minutes before the demonstrators walked to the Esplanada dos Ministérios, Abin sent another alert: “The protesters will move to the Esplanada at 1 pm. Peaceful atmosphere at the moment, but there are reports of people who say they are armed.”

The last text that would have been sent exclusively to the former minister, at 1 pm, says that it had been “identified a radical speech by a vandal with a profile already known with an exalted spirit”.

General Gonçalves Dias resigned from the GSI on April 19 in the wake of the crisis caused by the disclosure of images from the internal security circuit of the Planalto Palace. It was the first fall in the first echelon of the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government.

The recordings of the Planalto’s internal security circuit show the low number of police and military personnel at the beginning of the invasions. The entrance to the palace, for example, was left unguarded for 45 minutes while vandals destroyed the windows, security equipment and works of art inside the building.

The access of the coup plotters to the main door of the Planalto was only made difficult by the security forces around 4 pm, when the BGP (Presidential Guard Battalion) soldiers advanced in line against the vandals. The main means of dispersing the coup plotters was tear gas, without the need for direct confrontation.

Only at 4:43 pm did two groups of around one hundred BGP soldiers leave the parking lot reserved for the presidential convoy heading for the outer area of ​​the Planalto. Part of the group went to the palace entrance, while another mobilized on the second floor of the building and helped arrest the vandals.