Two weeks after unrest in the nation’s capital, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has fired the country’s army leader.
Just prior to former president Jair Bolsonaro’s term expiring on 30 December, general Julio Cesar de Arruda had only recently assumed the position.
According to President Lula, he believes that military personnel conspired with demonstrators.
In recent days, he has fired a large number of military officers.
On January 8, thousands of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters seized government facilities in Brasilia after marching through the city virtually unopposed.
The rioting resulted in the injuries of several police officers, and after rioters gained entry, the presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court were vandalized. The federal police in Brazil said that approximately 1,200 people are still being held in custody after being detained on that particular day.
Jair Bolsonaro is a party to the Supreme Court’s investigation into what transpired. After broadcasting a video questioning the validity of the presidential election from the previous year, prosecutors claimed the far-right former leader may have incited the disturbance.
He has disavowed any responsibility or role for the rebellion on the part of his supporters.
Storming the Brazilian Congress: How did we get here?
General Arruda is being replaced with General Tomás Ribeiro Paiva, a military officer who is close to the president, in the riot investigation by Brazil’s top court. He urged soldiers to accept the outcome of the presidential election in a speech he gave earlier this week.
Many Bolsonaro supporters who participated in the storming were motivated by unfounded claims of election fraud in October. The fact that President Lula, who was convicted of corruption in 2017 and imprisoned before his convictions were overturned, was back in office infuriated many people as well.
José Mcio, Brazil’s defense minister, said on Friday that it was time to move past the past and concentrate on the nation’s future and added that the military as a whole was not participating in the unrest.
Jair Bolsonaro has been residing in Florida ever since he decided not to attend President Lula’s inaugural ceremony.
Anderson Torres, a former justice minister and important Bolsonaro confidant, was detained last week after being suspected of “sabotaging” police operations to safeguard the structures.
