SALVADOR DE BAHÍA. – A year ago, on January 8, 2023, Brazil experienced one of the most controversial chapters in its recent history: the invasion of the headquarters of the three powers in Brasilia.
Major media outlets aligned with the PT and Rede Globo were quick to label the event a coup and a terrorist attack, pointing to former President Jair Bolsonaro as the event's mentor.
In this context, the STF and Lula's government were praised as defenders of democracy. However, a deeper and more critical analysis reveals a more complex and disturbing reality.
Contrary to the conventional narrative, it is clear that the acts of vandalism, while reprehensible, did not pose a real threat to Brazil's institutional order. Many of the demonstrators, including elderly and unarmed, clearly demonstrated a lack of capacity and organization for a coup. There were no weapons among the detainees, they lacked political articulation and did not have the minimum means of action for an attempted coup.
The response of the judicial authorities, led by Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the STF, aggravated the situation. Thousands of people were brought to justice even without privileged jurisdiction. This violated Brazilian legal norms, which stipulate that ordinary citizens must be prosecuted by judges of first instance, with judges chosen by lot. This departure from legitimate judicial practices paints a disturbing picture of a biased justice system.
The stories of Renata Cruz and Iraci Nagoshi, told by Oeste Magazine, shed light on the human side of the tragedy. Renata, a 50-year-old housewife, traveled from Pindamonhangaba to Brasilia to protest. As the situation worsened, she sought refuge at army headquarters but was arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Iraci Nagoshi, a 71-year-old retired teacher, suffered a similar fate and was forced to spend eight months in Colmeia prison without any evidence against her.
The death in prison of Cleriston Pereira da Cunha, despite the PGR's positive report for his release, is a sad milestone in this saga that symbolizes the negligence and arbitrariness of judicial action.
Another point of concern concerns General Gonçalves Dias, head of the Institutional Security Bureau (GSI) and Lula da Silva's confidant. He was filmed by surveillance cameras receiving protesters and vandals at the Planalto Palace, an action that was conveniently ignored in the STF and Justice Department investigations.
In addition, former Justice Minister Flavio Dino, currently a member of the STF, was implicated in the mysterious disappearance of security images from the Ministry of Justice, a fact that raises suspicions of manipulation of events and concealment of possible intruders among the protesters.
One year after January 8, Brazil faces a partisan justice system and a justice ministry reminiscent of authoritarian regimes. The actions of the STF and the government, supposedly defending democracy, are proving to be a stifling of it. The real threat to Brazilian democracy lies not in vandalism, but in the disproportionate and politically motivated response of the authorities. The episode becomes a distorted mirror of democracy and reflects the urgent need to review the pillars of justice and freedom in the country. One year after January 8, the reality is clear: Brazil was not facing a coup, but rather the manifestation of a partisan justice system and a government that, under the banner of democracy, carried out actions typical of authoritarian regimes. What was sold as an act of subversion turned out to be a crisis of justice.
The stories of Renata Cruz, Iraci Nagoshi and Cleriston Pereira da Cunha, as well as the suspicious actions of figures such as Alexandre de Moraes and Flavio Dino, are emblematic of a justice system that deviates from its constitutional functions and powers. A year later, the real challenge is the restoration of institutions and not an exceptional regime, which is being tightened day by day in Brazil.
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