Security scheme for September 7 is reinforced

The federal and Federal District governments are going to reinforce the security system in Brasília for the celebrations of September 7, Independence Day, to prevent demonstrations on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, even with no forecast of mobilization or protests on the radar of the police authorities. The staff deployed for the event is greater than that of Lula’s inauguration, on January 1st.

The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, even sent a letter to the Federal District government warning of possible acts organized by social networks, but did not make public any concrete evidence of risk of acts.

Dino said he placed the National Force at the disposal of the local government to act on the holiday, under the coordination of an Institutional Mobilization Office, a group created to define the performance of security on site during the event.

The opposition, on the other hand, has been asking the population not to participate in Lula’s September 7, which should be red and not green and yellow. Oppositionists understand the government’s security effort as an attempt to show service, especially after the fiasco of the security forces that failed to contain the acts of vandalism on January 8th.

The very fuss that the federal and Federal District governments have been making about the security scheme is understood by security analysts as an effort to dissuade possible protests, even without evidence that they are being called.

In an interview with the press to detail the reinforcement of policing, the executive secretary of the Secretariat of Public Security of the DF, Alexandre Patury (the number two in the hierarchy of the folder), said that “the corporations are vigilant against possible threats”.

The alignment between the security institutions has been carried out for three months, with meetings and mapping of information by government intelligence. According to Patury, “our intelligences are practically one. All of this is the result of learning from the pain that made us grow”, she emphasized, referring to January 8, when public buildings were taken over and vandalized by demonstrators in Brasília.

Patury said that the government of the Federal District has effective forces to guarantee security at the Esplanada dos Ministérios, but he decided to accept the help of the federal government, “or whoever it may be”. He said he is proud of the local police, regardless of what happened in January, including the arrest of commanders of the Military Police of the DF, who supposedly would have “facilitated” the entry of demonstrators in places like the Planalto Palace.

“What I can promise is that on September 7, nothing organized or similar to what happened in the past will happen,” he said.

Staff for 9/7 will be greater than Lula’s inauguration

The General Commander of the Military Police of the Federal District, Colonel Adão Macedo, highlighted the protocol of integrated actions between the local and federal governments, and said that an expectation for the holiday was created from the uncertainties of January 8th.

He guaranteed that “all the personnel and logistics of the PM were placed thinking about all the hypotheses”, and that the policing will be able to face any threat, even without anything mapped, but he admits a certain concern with isolated actions.

Although those responsible for policing do not mention the number of men assigned to guarantee security in Brasília, it is estimated that at least two thousand men from the Military Police and another five hundred civil police officers are spread across the main points of the capital. Members of the National Force must still be present, according to Vice-Governor Celina Leão. But it is not known how many police officers will be on the ground under the orders of the National Force.

According to estimates by the interconnected bodies for designing the security scheme for the holiday, around 30,000 people are expected in the stands set up along the Esplanade, and another 10,000 in areas close to the parade site.

In the buildings located in Praça dos Três – the National Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Federal Supreme Court –, security will also have its own personnel from the legislative police and the STF, in addition to the Planalto Military Command. The buildings will be protected by grids.

Even the occupancy of hotels and the monitoring of chartered buses traveling to Brasília are being monitored by security. Social media videos were also forwarded by the Ministry of Justice and analyzed by the intelligence of the operation.

“I could say that they are videos in the routine pattern that we receive, but I won’t say that. We have no right to discard information, because we would not tolerate something happening and in the midst of so many messages having a background of truth”, said Patury, Executive Secretary of Public Security of the DF.

Access for passenger vehicles and buses on the Esplanada dos Ministérios will be closed at 9 pm on Wednesday (6), the eve of the parade on September 7, and will reopen only after noon, when the program has already ended and the Military Police to verify the total security of the area. There must also be a personal search procedure at the entrance to the parade.

It will be prohibited to carry weapons, explosives, flag poles, sharp objects, bottles, cans and other objects that could endanger the safety of the population. The use of drones without authorization in local airspace will also not be allowed.

Institutional Mobilization Office will be active for ten days

The Institutional Mobilization Office was installed on September 1st, and activities recorded over ten days will be presented within a month.

“It will work at the Integrated Operations Center of Brasília (Ciob), of the Secretariat of Public Security of the Federal District”, said the secretary of Public Security of the DF, Sandro Avelar, who heads the portfolio. He claims that the cabinet can make communication and decision-making faster and more efficient.

In support of the teams, the region will be monitored using images from cameras and drones sent to the Integrated Operations Center in Brasília (Ciob).

Another statement by the government with the apparent aim of demonstrating efficiency is that the high command of public security in the Federal District and representatives of federal security agencies will be on site. This would facilitate faster decision-making through the Institutional Mobilization Office.

“Anyone who wants to come to the Esplanade to see the parade in an atmosphere of democracy will be very welcome. People who want to come to the DF to make a mess, the security forces will act”, said the deputy governor of the Federal District, Celina Leão, who took control of operations while governor Ibaneis Rocha was away from Brazil on an official mission.

According to the press office of the Federal District government, the governor will be in the parade. Ibaneis Rocha was even removed from the government after the acts of January 8, by determination of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court, with the appointment of a federal intervenor.

Lula will take on commemorative narrative to overshadow Bolsonaro’s legacy

In the first parade on September 7 of his term, Lula tries to change the connotation of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) parades, moving away from the political character of Independence celebrations. The government supporters call the fact that Bolsonaro managed to rescue the patriotism and civic sense of part of the population during his term as “the political character of September 7th”.

The parade theme this year will be “Democracy, Sovereignty and Unity”. The ceremony will begin at 9:00 am with the Fanfare of the 1st Guards Cavalry Regiment, the Independence Dragoons. The parade should count on the participation of two thousand military personnel, who will parade along the Esplanada dos Ministérios and perform aerial demonstrations for the public present.

On the eve, Lula should make a speech on national radio and TV, to make an appeal for national unity. In an attempt to dialogue with the right, Lula included the defense of the Amazon in the slogans of September 7th. For her leftist audience, she returned to the discourse on the importance of vaccination.

Opposition wants to mark celebrations with blood donations and “Stay at Home”

While many authorities are planning to celebrate Independence alongside President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the tribune set up on the Esplanada, the opposition plans to mark the date with a gesture in favor of public health.

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) recalled the episode of his father being stabbed during his first presidential campaign, on September 6, in Juiz de Fora (MG), and asked the former president’s supporters to take advantage of the date to donate blood.

The senator made the request on social networks and there are already a record number of appointments in some blood centers, such as Brasília, for example, according to the parliamentary advisory.

Flávio Bolsonaro returned to social networks to ask people to take advantage of the month of September to make this gesture to reinforce the stocks of blood banks in the country.

Other supporters and movements linked to the former president consider that there is nothing to celebrate on this 7th. They also campaign for people to take advantage of the date to stay at home, in an attempt to empty the celebrations.