Lula says minister left government ‘on his own’ – 04/20/2023 – Politics

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Thursday (20) that General Gonçalves Dias, former minister of the GSI (Institutional Security Office), decided to leave the government “on his own”.

On his way to an event in Planalto, the president was asked by two journalists if he had been upset with the resignation of the minister, his longtime friend.

“No. He left on his own,” he told Valor and O Tempo.

Lula’s speech takes place one day after the minister’s resignation, worn out by the dissemination of images from inside the Planalto Palace during the January 8 invasion.

CCTV footage released by CNN Brasil shows that the vandals received water from the military and greeted GSI agents during the attacks.

General Gonçalves Dias himself, called GDias by the government team, 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 then head of the GSI was scheduled to provide clarifications to the Public Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, but ended up canceling his participation after the images were released. GDias presented a medical certificate to justify his absence.

Hours later, he went to the Planalto Palace to meet with Lula.

Before that, however, the president called an emergency meeting with the closest ministers to discuss the situation of the head of the GSI. Deputy Geraldo Alckmin, ministers Flávio Dino (Justice), Rui Costa (Casa Civil), Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) and the director general of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, took part.

At that meeting, it was understood that GDias should resign. None of those present took a stand or argued against the departure of the minister from the GSI. The action was consummated following Lula’s meeting with the general.

In an interview with GloboNews, the general defended himself against accusations of leniency by him and the body he commanded during the January 8 coup acts.

The general claims that it is “absurd for his image” to associate him with the GSI agent who offers water to the demonstrators and who made his position available, although he is “very sad” for the investigation to be carried out.

Gonçalves Dias also defended himself from criticism for appearing in the images indicating the departure for supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). He stated that this action was part of the strategy, to seek to surround them on the second floor of the palace, so that everyone would be arrested.

“Our technique here later, after the invasion, was to remove people from the fourth floor, remove them from the third, put them on the second and, on the second, carry out the arrest. We arrested more than 250 people in here, who invaded, who depredated,” he said.

“No one talks, but we preserved practically the entire third floor, the heart of the Planalto which is the president’s office. It was preserved, the entire wing of the personal office was preserved and the fourth floor was completely preserved from these invaders”, he added.