Brazil braces for more pro-Bolsonaro protests

Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro are planning more protests against newly installed President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after storming key government buildings over the weekend.

The federal government bolstered security measures nationwide as pro-Bolsonaro social media pages called for more demonstrations in several cities. The protests should begin in the late afternoon, according to the posts.

"We are taking actions to reinforce security throughout Brazil," Lula's chief of staff Rui Costa said on Tuesday.

Brazil's supreme court has prohibited roadblocks such as those that Bolsonaro's supporters had recently mounted and increased punishments for storming public buildings. Bolsonaro supporters stormed congress, the presidential palace and the supreme court in Brasilia on 8 January and some highways were blocked shortly after but have since been cleared.

Power transmission towers and lines in Parana and Rondonia states were damaged on 8 and 9 January. Brazilian authorities are investigating whether the incidents could have been caused by sabotage or vandalism.

Brazil's attorney general office has also asked for a temporary ban on demonstrations — including the immediate arrest of all those protesting — and fines for companies found to be financing the protests' logistics.

Brazil's justice minister Flavio Dino said on Monday that financiers of the 8 January protests have been identified in 10 states. He added that he has a list of those who hired the nearly 40 buses that drove the rioters to Brasilia but did not give further details.

At least 1,500 people who stormed the buildings have been arrested so far, according to the federal district's police.

Bolsonaro — who left Brazil two days before his term expired and did not attend Lula's inauguration — shared a video on Twitter this morning with unfounded information to discredit the country's electoral process, but which the former president later removed. Bolsonaro has claimed before that the election was stolen.

Bolsonaro had been admitted to a hospital in Florida to treat intestinal discomfort because of a stabbing he suffered during the 2018 election campaign, his wife Michelle Bolsonaro said on Instagram on Monday. He has since left the hospital and has vowed to return to Brazil before the end of January.

Supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes issued an arrest warrant for Bolsonaro's former justice minister Anderson Torres, who became Brasilia's public security chief after Lula took office on 1 January, citing connivance with the rioters. He was vacationing with his family in Florida and visited Bolsonaro a day before the storming of the buildings. Torres said on Twitter on Tuesday that he will return to Brazil and turn himself in.

Moraes also issued the arrest of Fabio Augusto Vieira, the head of Brasilia's federal police. Lula said the police was force was "neglectful" during the riots.

Moraes had previously removed the governor of Brazil's federal district for 90 days over security flaws that allowed the storming of the buildings.

After the storming of the buildings, Lula declared a federal security intervention in the federal district until 31 January, which was approved by congress on Monday and by the senate yesterday.

Brazil is also on alert over protests and blockades at oil refineries owned by Petrobras . Oil workers union FUP reported protests of around 30-150 people each at the Reman, Refap, Revap and Regag refineries on Monday morning. But the protests have not disrupted operations so far, according to FUP.

Lula met with Brazil's 27 governors and the heads of congress and the supreme court one day after the protests to discuss measures to counter the attack. After the meeting, the leaders walked together to the supreme court building as a sign of unity among the three branches. Meanwhile, demonstrations in defense of democracy took place in several cities nationwide.

By Lucas Parolin

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