Brazil’s President Lula is safe: The protesters who stormed the presidential palace two weeks ago got help from within. As a reminder, more than 4,000 supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro rampaged through Brasilia on January 8, invading and looting the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court. Since this event that shook the beginning of his new mandate, Lula had announced a review “complete” palace staff That is why he started a genuine purge within the military apparatus at the service of the executive.
Although for him, the main culprit of these riots is none other than Jair Bolsonaro. That is why, this Saturday, Lula has decided to dismiss the head of the army, Julio César de Arruda. He had assumed this function on an interim basis since December 30, two days before the end of the mandate of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. It was also confirmed at the beginning of January by the new Lula administration. He will be replaced by the military commander of the Southeast, Tomas Ribeiro Paiva, according to GloboNews.
Tomas Ribeiro Paiva had stated in a public speech this Wednesday that the army would continue “guarantee democracy”. “It is the regime of the people, of alternation in power. It’s the vote. And when we vote, we must respect the results of the polls”he said, in a video posted by news site G1.
One of Lula’s biggest challenges
After Lula’s first meeting with military leaders on Friday, Defense Minister José Mucio spoke about the military’s role in the unrest. According to him, military leaders “accept” that sanctions be taken against members of the armed forces involved in the unrest. The minister had also argued that there had been no “direct involvement” of the army in the unrest in Brasilia.
The relationship with the armed forces is one of Lula’s biggest immediate challenges, according to analysts who point to the significant military presence in the previous administration. A total of 53 members of the military apparatus serving the executive have been dismissed this week. Thirteen were part of the Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI), a government body in charge of assisting the Head of State in his national security and defense policy.
Source : Le JDD
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