Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a state of emergency in the country's capital due to the riots staged on Sunday by supporters of former head of state Jair Bolsonaro. He read out the relevant decree, speaking to reporters.
"[There is a]decree on federal intervention in the [capital]
Federal District in order to contain large-scale violations of
public order <...> until January 31, 2023," the President
said. He specified that for this period the federal authorities
will assume the functions of managing public security agencies.
Da Silva said that security functions in Brasilia are legally
assigned to the military police of the Federal District, which, in
his opinion, "did nothing."
"I would call it incompetence, unwillingness or even malice on the part of those responsible for public safety in the Federal District. This is not the first time," he added.
According to the head of state, such inaction of law enforcement
officers should not go unpunished. "They cannot serve in the
department, because the Brazilian society does not trust them,"
Lula da Silva stressed.
On Sunday, the supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro
clashed with police in the country's capital and broke into the
National Congress (Parliament) and other state institutions. The
few security guards at the empty sites on Sunday were unable to
rebuff the protesters who did not recognize the results of the
October presidential election.
According to preliminary estimates, about 5,000 people participated in the riots. To disperse the demonstrators, the security forces used smoke bombs and tear gas grenades, including dropping them from a helicopter. Law enforcement officers are successfully regaining control over the buildings attacked by vandals, the detainees are sent to police stations. There have been no official reports of possible casualties yet.
Socialist Lula da Silva took office as President of Brazil on
January 1, defeating Bolsonaro in the second round of elections.
The gap between them was 2.1 million votes. The conservative did
not admit defeat, and his supporters massively took to the streets
and to the garrisons of the armed forces demanding that Lula da
Silva not take office. At the end of December 2022, Bolsonaro left
for the United States.
