“No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!”. The chants echoed off the walls of the crowded lobby of the University of Sao Paulo Law School on Monday afternoon. Hours later it was the motto of the Thousands of Brazilians that took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, written on placards and flags. The night found them all in different cities.
the words are a demand for punishment Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who stormed the Brazilian capital on Sunday, and those who made the attack possible.
“These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished,” said Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, on Sao Paulo’s main boulevard. The word “DEMOCRACY” was written on the back of his t-shirt. “You do not represent Brazil. We represent Brazil”.
The requests for clarification of responsibilities are reminded an amnesty law which for decades protected soldiers accused of abuse and murder during the country’s 1964-1985 dictatorship. A 2014 Truth Commission report opened debate on how Brazil has dealt with the legacy of the regime.
Avoiding sanctions “can avoid tensions at the moment continues the instability‘ said Luis Felipe Miguel, a professor of political science at the University of Brasilia, in a column entitled ‘Amnesty no’ published Monday afternoon. “This is the lesson we should have learned from the end of the military dictatorship, when Brazil chose not to punish the regime’s murderers and torturers.”
Brazilian police had already arrested around 1,500 rioters on Monday, some of them in the demolitions of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and Presidential Palace, although most were arrested at a camp in Brasilia the next morning.
Many spent the day held in a gymand videos shared on pro-Bolsonaro social media channels showed some complaining about their mistreatment in a crowded room.
Federal police plan to press charges against at least 1,000 people and have begun transferring some to nearby Papuda prison, according to the police press office.
That’s what the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says That’s just the beginning.
Justice Minister Flávio Dino promised to stop crimes such as organized crime, attempted coup and violent abolition of the rule of law democratic towards the people who have been working behind the scenes to rally supporters on social media and fund their transfer.
He also said authorities will investigate allegations that local security forces have continued the demolitions unhindered.
“We cannot and will not compromise when fulfilling our legal obligations,” said Dino. “It is important that these acts are not repeated.”
Lula signed a decree Sunday providing for the order The federal government takes over the security check in the capitalhe. It was approved by the lower house of Congress on Monday and will now go to the Senate.
The riots in Brasilia were a reminder of the threat to democracy posed by far-right elements who refuse to accept Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat.
Since their October 30 defeat, they have camped outside military barracks to demand army intervention that will allow Bolsonaro to remain in power and overthrow Lula. When the coup didn’t happen they rebelled themselves.
the destruction
Dressed in the green and yellow colors of the national flag, they smashed windows, toppled furniture and threw computers and printers on the ground.
They punched holes in a huge painting by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti in the Presidential Palace and other works of art destroyed. They toppled the U-shaped table where federal court judges meet, ripped down a door to a judge’s office and destroyed a statue in front of the court. Hours passed before the police drove the mob away.
“What happened yesterday is unacceptable. It’s terrorism,” said Marcelo Menezes, a 59-year-old police officer from the northeastern state of Pernambuco, at a protest in São Paulo. “I am here to defend democracy. I’m here to defend the people.”
the screams of “No amnesty!” They were also heard during Lula’s inaugural address on Jan. 1, when the president listed instances of neglect by the outgoing Bolsonaro administration.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain, fueled a longing for the dictatorship, hailed a well-known torturer as a hero and claimed the regime should have gone further execute communists. His government also commemorated the anniversary of Brazil’s 1964 coup d’état.
Political analysts have repeated that Bolsonaro he laid the foundations for an uprising Image of what happened at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. For months he fomented belief among his most loyal supporters that the country’s e-voting system was vulnerable to fraud, though never presented evidence and independent experts disagreed.
the results of the elections, the closest since Brazil’s return to democracy, were quickly recognized by members across the political spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, and dozens of governments. And Bolsonaro surprised almost everyone disappear from public view.
He neither conceded defeat nor denounced fraud, although he and his party filed a motion to have millions of votes annulled, which was promptly dismissed.
None of this dissuaded his most loyal supporters that Bolsonaro should remain in power.
Immediately after the riots, Lula said the so-called fanatical fascists and their financiers must take responsibility. He also accused Bolsonaro of promoting the uprising.
Bolsonaro rejected the president’s accusation on Sunday evening. In a tweet, he explained that while peaceful protest is part of democracy, vandalism and the invasion of public buildings are “exceptions to the norm”.
The authorities also investigated the role of the federal district police, either by failing to stop the march of protesters or by stepping aside to let them wreak havoc. The prosecutor’s office of the capital said that at least local security forces they had been negligent.
A judge at the Federal Court of Justice suspended the state governor responsible for the police from his office for “willful omission”. Another judge accused authorities across the country of not having been quick to pursue “domestic neo-fascism”.
The episode eventually led to local and state governments as well dissolve the camps in favor of Bolsonaro in front of military barracks that had lasted since the elections. Their tents and tarps were removed and the campers driven out.
But on Monday, pro-democracy protesters tried to ensure their message (‘No amnesty! far-right elements who might dare to challenge democracy again.
“After what happened yesterday (Sunday), we have to take to the streets,” said Marcos Gama, a pensioner who was protesting in Sao Paulo on Monday night. “We must react.”
Associated Press