Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro have been camped outside army bases in Brazil for weeks, calling on the military to overturn the victory of leftist president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. According to the new Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, the camps have become “hotbeds of terrorism”.
Camps of electoral denialists in Brazil who are camped in front of army bases have become “hotbeds of terrorism”, Brazil’s new justice minister Flavio Dino said on Sunday. The day before, the police had detonated a controlled explosive device and arrested a suspect they accused of having links with the Brasília camp.
“Yesterday’s serious events in Brasilia prove that the so-called ‘camps’ have become hotbeds of terrorism,” tweeted the new minister. “There will be no amnesty for terrorists, their supporters and financiers.”
Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro have been camped outside army bases in Brazil for weeks, calling on the military to overturn the victory of leftist president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who takes office on January 1.
Dino said that preparations for Lula’s inauguration will be “reassessed with a view to reinforcing security measures.” In another tweet, Dino said he would propose the creation of “task forces to fight terrorism and irresponsible weapons”. These political militias are incompatible with the rule of law.”
The bombing news added a new dimension to post-election violence in Brazil, where tensions remain high after the toughest election in a generation.
Bolsonaro doubts the electoral system
Bolsonaro, who has yet to concede defeat, has made unfounded claims about the credibility of Brazil’s electoral system, and many of his supporters believe him. The head of Brazil’s electoral authority last month rejected a complaint by Bolsonaro allies who wanted to contest the presidential election.
The camp in Brasilia, outside the Army headquarters, became one of the most radical in the country. On December 12, the day Lula’s victory was confirmed, some residents of the camp attacked the headquarters of the Federal Police in Brasília.
Robson Cândido, head of civil police in Brasília, said a 54-year-old man from the state of Pará was arrested and confessed to having planted the explosive device in a tanker truck near Brasília’s airport to cause chaos.
“He came to participate in the protests in front of the army headquarters and is part of the movement to support the current president,” Candido told journalists. “They’re on this mission, which they think is ideological, but it’s out of control.”
Police also found assault rifles and other explosives in an apartment rented by the man in Brasilia. Cândido said the suspect was a registered gun owner known as the CAC, a group that has grown sixfold to nearly 700,000 people since Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 and began relaxing gun laws.
Cândido said that the man and his helpers tried to trigger the explosive device, but it did not detonate. He said it was still unclear how many other people were involved. “We’ve never had bombs here in Brazil,” he said.
(APA)