Minister of the GSI resigns after images of the performance on January 8

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) accepted the resignation of the Chief Minister of the Institutional Security Office (GSI), Marco Edson Gonçalves Dias, this Wednesday (19). The decision took place after images of the minister’s performance during the January 8 acts surfaced.

The images show that Gonçalves Dias and other members of the GSI were inside the Palácio do Planalto and did not act to contain the vandals who invaded and destroyed the seat of the Executive.

Gonçalves Dias appears in the images released by CNN Brazil, walking around the anteroom of the presidential office, he enters the room to check the situation, leaves and guides the demonstrators who were on the floor on the way to leave the building. Other GSI agents also appear guiding the invaders, but without taking any action against them.

Dias commanded the president’s personal security between 2003 and 2009, in his previous terms. He was also head of the Institutional Security Coordination of former President Dilma Rousseff (PT). The general also acted in Lula’s security during the 2022 election campaign.

summons and subpoena

After the images were released, the Public Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved the summons of General Gonçalves Dias to explain the agency’s actions during the acts of vandalism on January 8. The summons, unlike the invitation, obliges the minister to appear to provide clarifications to the deputies.

Gonçalves Dias temporarily retired from his duties as of this Wednesday (19) due to health problems. According to a medical certificate issued by the Health Coordination of the Presidency of the Republic, he was seen by the department in the early afternoon with an “acute clinical picture and in need of medication and observation”, but without justifying the reason.

The document, signed by doctor João Luiz Henrique da Silveira, states that the minister must “have absences from commitments justified by health reasons on the present date”, but also without explaining the period of removal.

In addition, the Federal Police should summon the chief minister of the GSI this week to testify about the acts of vandalism on January 8. The PF heard 81 testimonies from military personnel about the January 8 acts. According to CNN Brazilcorporation sources claim that the investigators had already heard about the alleged negligence of Gonçalves Dias in the invasion of the Executive headquarters.