Lula says he considered missing a military event out of grief – 04/19/2023 – Politics

Hours after the resignation of General Gonçalves Dias as head of the GSI (Institutional Security Office), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said he had no grudge against the military and said he had considered missing a ceremony alluding to Army Day.

The declaration took place this Wednesday afternoon (19), during an event to announce the release of funds for federal universities and institutes. The start of the event was delayed by more than an hour because, before that, Lula held internal meetings to discuss the performance of the GSI military during the attacks on January 8.

Despite not mentioning the episode, Lula says he has no grudge against the military.

“I want to tell you that today was the day of the Brazilian Army and everyone knows how hurt I was with the military in that country because of everything that happened. And I spent the whole night thinking: ‘I’m going, I’m not going, I’m going, I’m not going’. And I made the decision to go,” said Lula.

“I think it was God who helped me decide, because I went there to show: I don’t hold grudges. This army is no longer Bolsonaro’s army, it’s the Caxias army, the Brazilian army that has a constitutional function.”

Gonçalves Dias resigned from his post after the release of images that called into question the agency’s performance during the January 8 coup attack.

His departure from the government occurred shortly after a meeting with Lula, who accepted the request. This is the first fall of a minister in the current management, three months and 19 days after the beginning of the mandate.

CNN Brasil had released, hours before, images of the internal security circuit of the Palácio do Planalto during the invasion of the headquarters of the Presidency of the Republic.

According to the images, the vandals received water from the military and greeted GSI agents during the attacks. In the videos, General Gonçalves Dias himself walks around the third floor of the palace, in the anteroom of the President of the Republic’s office, while the acts took place on the floor below.

The ceremony alluding to Army Day took place this Wednesday morning.

At the event, the commander of the Force, General Tomás Paiva, read a speech alongside Lula in which he preached that respect for institutions and non-partisanship are the foundations of a “modern Army”.

“In an increasingly complex world, it is necessary to look at the examples of the heroes of Guararapes and Duque de Caxias, in order to find the best ways to fulfill our mission”, he said.