Lula attributes vandalism in Brasilia to intelligence “error”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated that there was an “error” by the intelligence of government-related bodies for not having warned him about the possibility of the January 8 demonstrations evolving into acts of vandalism. On January 6, Lula traveled to Araraquara (SP) after heavy rains that caused deaths and damage in the city. He was not in Brasília when the headquarters of the Three Powers were vandalized. According to him, the information passed on to him before the trip was that “everything was quiet” in the federal capital. This statement was made in an interview with journalist Natuza Nery, from GloboNews.

“We have intelligence from the GSI, Abin, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, that is, the truth is that none of this intelligence served to warn the President of the Republic that this could have happened. If I had known on Friday that Eight thousand people would come here, I wouldn’t have left Brasilia. I left because everything was calm”, stated Lula.

Lula referred to the acts as an attempted coup d’état and, therefore, said that the federal government’s decision was for federal intervention in public security in the Federal District and not for a GLO operation – Guarantee of Law and Order. According to him, if that were done, he could become a kind of “queen of England”, since he would not have all the president’s attributions and some would be assumed by the Armed Forces.

Regarding the vandalism at the Planalto Palace, Lula again stated that he believes that there was some kind of collaboration for the demonstrators to enter the place, since, in the president’s view, the space did not need to be invaded. In addition to the intelligence services, the PT member criticized the performance of the Military Police of the Federal District on January 8 and also on December 12, the date of diplomacy, when there were also demonstrations that ended in violent acts in the federal capital.

In a series of criticisms of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Lula stated that the possibility of the former Chief Executive having some kind of participation in the acts needs to be investigated and that, if this is eventually proven, the PT advocated that there is punishment and until Bolsonaro becomes ineligible. For Lula, the former president would have encouraged his supporters to act on January 8 with statements throughout his term, raising suspicions about electronic voting machines, not recognizing defeat in the 2022 elections, and traveling to the United States to avoid passing the presidential sash to him.

Armed forces

The president said that the military personnel who participated in the acts on January 8, if they are identified, will be punished. According to him, everyone has the right to have their own political positions, but this cannot influence the work performed in the Armed Forces. “Whoever wants to do politics, take off the uniform”, said Lula.

Politicization in the Armed Forces will be one of the themes of Lula’s conversation with military commanders next Friday (20). Once again, he stressed that the military and other public servants serve the Brazilian state and not him or former President Bolsonaro.

union of progressives

During the interview, Lula also criticized part of the right wing and called them “angry”, in addition to citing the term commonly used by the left: “fascists”. In Lula’s words, there needs to be an international union of progressives and defenders of the democratic regime to combat the forces that he considers to be of the “extreme right”. In this field, the petista includes Bolsonaro and also former US president Donald Trump. On the subject, he said he will talk to the American president, Joe Biden, when he goes to the United States.