President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with the country’s governors as well as the heads of congress and the Supreme Court as the nation’s top politicians put on a united front a day after Brazil’s capital was stormed by Jair Bolsonaro supporters.
(Bloomberg) — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with the country’s governors as well as the heads of congress and the Supreme Court as the nation’s top politicians put on a united front a day after Brazil’s capital was stormed by Jair Bolsonaro supporters.
All 27 governors accepted Lula’s invitation — even allies of the former president such as the governor of São Paulo state, Tarcísio de Freitas — to meet in the Palácio do Planalto, damaged by rioters the day before. Newspapers reported Freitas was hesitant on whether to attend, but was convinced by Supreme Court Chief Justice Rosa Weber.
“We are not going to allow democracy to slip out of our hands,” Lula said at the meeting. “They want a coup, and there won’t be a coup.”
The leftist leader said he will go after those who ordered the acts and criticized police officers for negligence dealing with the invasions. The rioters caused irreparable damage to the country’s patrimony and art collections, according to the presidency’s office.
Brazil Rioters Destroyed Priceless Artwork in Capital Rampage
After the meeting, Lula, Weber and the other participants walked together from the Presidential Palace to the Court’s headquarters.
Investigations
Authorities have identified people across 10 states who chartered buses that drove thousands of protesters into Brasilia in the days leading up to the Sunday riots, Justice Minister Flavio Dino told reporters on Monday.
“We have a list of all the people who chartered buses, and all of them will be brought in for questioning,” Dino said. “That’s a first way to uncover the financial backers of this.”
Brazil’s Attorney General Office has identified more than 100 companies suspected of having financed the rioters and will call for their assets to be blocked on Tuesday, CNN Brasil reported without saying where it got the information.
Intervention
The Lower House approved the intervention decreed by Lula in the Federal District in a symbolic and unanimous vote on Monday night. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it should be voted on Tuesday.
Economic measures
Despite the turbulence caused by the riots in Brasilia, Lula ordered that Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Chief of Staff Rui Costa stick to the established plan and announce economic measures by Friday, according to Valor Economico. The measures should be aimed mainly at reducing the primary fiscal deficit, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed person familiar.
Bolsonaro hospitalized
Jair Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil that he is fine and should be released from the hospital, where he was admitted to complaining of abdominal pain, in the next few days. Bolsonaro also said that while the plan was to stay in Florida until the end of the month, he could return earlier than expected to Brazil for treatment.
Biden
Bolsonaro’s presence in the US has turned into a diplomatic quandary for President Joe Biden after the Sunday riots in Brasilia. The violence bore echoes of the Jan. 6 insurrection in the US, and the Biden administration, which has aligned itself with Lula’s government, is weighing what to do next with Bolsonaro, who was an ally of former President Donald Trump and shared his hard-right populism.
Bolsonaro’s Florida Stay Morphs Into Biden Quandary After Riot
Biden appears to have the power to revoke Bolsonaro’s visa and kick him out of the country, and is already coming under pressure from progressives to do so. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the US hadn’t received an extradition request from Brazil. Behind the silence from Brasilia, administration officials are considering whether they can do anything to spur Bolsonaro to leave the US, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Other highlights
- Lula, Biden Spoke Today, Says Brazil Presidential Palace
- Lula to Visit Biden at White House Next Month
- Senator Renan Calheiros asked top court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to order Bolsonaro’s immediate return from the US
- Calheiros pushing for a parliamentary investigations committee and Bolsonaro’s extradition: Valor Economico
- Workers’ Party members want Defense Minister replaced; Lula pushes back despite admitting to issues: Estado
- Social movements hold pro-democracy act in Sao Paulo and other capitals: Estado
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