“Fascist terror and military hostility set tone for Lula’s inauguration in Brazil”, Dec 29, 2022, Tomas Castanheira, World Socialist Web Site, at < https://www.wsws.org/en/
“Everything to know about Lula’s inauguration”, Dec 31. 2022, Peoples Dispatch, Brasil de Fato, and MST, Peoples Dispatch, at < https://peoplesdispatch.org/
Introduction by dmorista:
The first article, “Fascist terror and military hostility set tone for Lula’s inauguration in Brazil”, points out that the fascist and far-right paramilitary forces in Brazil have been actively operating inside that country; and that they have not given up on using violent means, such as some sort of AutoGolpe (defined as a coup d'etat carried out by a still serving political figure, to remain in office). Today, Sunday January 1st, 2023 is the inauguration day for Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, the center-left politician, who defeated far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro in the recent presidential election. The ceremony will take place at 12:30 PM Sunday Eastern Standard Time (2:30 PM in Brasilia).
Not only are large numbers of armed and activist right-wing operatives active in Brazil, but the great majority of the high command military officers are hostile to Lula and many are collaborating with Bolsonaro and his Liberal Party (PL), or their allies from the ultra-right Brazilian Labor Party (PTB). Large numbers of fascist foot-soldiers have been waiting and conducting operations from a large encampment on the outskirts of Brasilia, the national capital.
Lula's planners and organizers of the inauguration ceremonies have even debated whether Lula should ride in an open car in the inaugural parade or in a closed armored car. Threats and plots to murder Lula are widespread. Brazil is the largest and most important Latin American country and what happens there affects the entire continent of South America and the entire region of the Americas, including the U.S.
The second article, “Everything to know about Lula’s inauguration”, notes many details about the plans for the inaugural celebration today. This includes the fact that: “The international guest list is also set to break records. In total, Lula will receive representatives from 120 countries. 53 of them with heads of state and ministers. 17 heads of state are confirmed from Germany, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Guinea-Bissau, Paraguay, Portugal, Suriname, East Timor, Uruguay, Zimbabwe and Spain, whose representative will be King Felipe VI. In 2019, President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) received 10 heads of state and 18 delegations in total during the inauguration. …. (and that) Caravans from all regions of the country have been arriving to Brasilia over the past several days to participate in the Popular Movements’ Camp for the inauguration. The delegations are staying in the Mané Garrincha Stadium, and an estimated 10,000 people are expected to arrive at the Camp. With participation of diverse social organizations and movements of Brazil such as the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement, the World March of Women, Movement of People Affected by Dams, and others, the Popular Movements’ Camp materializes the collective work of thousands of workers from the countryside and the city that, in the last period, dedicated themselves to the campaign to elect Lula.” The issue of whether or not Lula and his Vice-President elect will ride in an open or an armored car is also discussed.
Fascist terror and military hostility set tone for Lula’s inauguration in Brazil
The inauguration of Brazil’s president-elect Luís Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers Party (PT), set for January 1, is being prepared under the shadow of fascistic conspiracies in the country.
The growing threats of far-right violence have been made explicit in the last week with the exposure of a terrorist plot by supporters of current fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro, who has yet to admit losing the election to Lula. The stated goal of the planned actions was to prevent the transfer of power to the elected government and pave the way for an authoritarian coup.
On Christmas Eve, the 54-year-old fascist George Washington de Oliveira Sousa was arrested in Brasilia after a failed bomb attack at the Brazilian capital’s airport.
Sousa confessed to having armed the explosive, which he said was planted by another man, Alan Diego Rodrigues, in a tanker truck that was heading to Brasilia International Airport (BSB) loaded with jet fuel. The bomb was removed in the vicinity of the airport by the truck driver, who identified the strange object and called the police. The survey by the Civil Police of the Federal District (PCDF) concluded that the bomb was set off but failed due to “a micro technical detail in the detonator.”
In his statement to the authorities, Sousa revealed having planned this and other actions, such as blowing up a power substation in the capital, together with other fascist supporters of Bolsonaro. He stated that their goal was to “start the chaos” that would “lead to the intervention of the armed forces and the decree of a state of siege to prevent the establishment of communism in Brazil.”
The pro-Bolsonaro activist identified himself as a gas station manager and former paratrooper (supposedly in the Brazilian army). He was arrested in a rented property in Brasilia, more than 700 miles away from his residence in the state of Pará.
Sousa, inspired by “the words of President Bolsonaro,” traveled to the capital on November 12 carrying “two 12-gauge shotguns, two .357 caliber revolvers ... a .308 caliber Springfield rifle, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition of various calibers, and five sticks of dynamite,” said the police report. He claims to have invested 160,000 reais (US$32,000) in his arsenal, equivalent to about three years of his declared income.
Sousa declared that the purpose of his trip to Brasilia was “to participate in the protests that were taking place in front of the Army’s headquarters and wait for the sign for the Armed Forces to take up arms and overthrow communism.” He said he planned to distribute part of his weapons and ammunition to other participants in this fascist mob.
This ultra-right armed movement, although it seeks to present itself as an individual and spontaneous initiative, has directly traceable connections to Bolsonaro and his entourage and to the higher echelons of the military and the police.
Over the past two months, the fascist encampment in Brasilia in which Sousa took part has been the focus of a series of actions coordinated by Bolsonaro’s allies to challenge the outcome of the Brazilian election. The idea that individuals like Sousa are independent political actors is immediately refuted by the records of these actions.
On November 30, Sousa and Alan Diego Rodrigues, his currently fugitive accomplice, attended a Senate hearing organized by politicians linked to the fascistic president as a platform to promote their conspiratorial narrative of electoral fraud and openly advocate a military coup.
On social media, Rodrigues displays personal photos alongside the politicians who organized this action in the Senate, such as congressmen Zé Trovão, from Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL), and Daniel Silveira from the ultra-right Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), who was given amnesty by the fascistic president after being convicted of agitating for a coup d’état.
On the eve of the Senate hearing, on November 24, Congresswoman Carla Zambelli (PL), one of Bolsonaro’s main allies, visited the fascist camp at the gates of the Army’s headquarters along with her husband, Col. Aginaldo de Oliveira, the head of the National Public Security Force until March of this year.
Speaking to the crowd, Zambelli, who is also charged with political violence during the October election, claimed she was organizing “an action in the Senate that will shake the structures of the Senate.” She added: “Count on us. While you are here, know that you have people working sometimes behind the scenes ... and I won’t rest for a second until we achieve our freedom.”
On December 12, two weeks before the action that led to Sousa’s arrest, the members of this fascist encampment staged violent protests in Brasilia against the event officially confirming Lula’s victory. Facing virtually no police intervention, the small group of far-right protesters attacked buildings and set fire to more than a dozen cars and buses across the capital. Videos show Rodrigues present at different moments of the day, sometimes walking among police officers, sometimes on barricades or next to burning vehicles.
The violent actions enacted by these fascist foot soldiers, both on December 12 and December 24, can be directly linked to the political orientation provided by Bolsonaro in previous days.
In his first extensive political speech since his electoral defeat on October 30, Bolsonaro addressed his supporters in Brasilia (likely Rodrigues and Sousa among them) just three days before the official confirmation of Lula’s victory. His speech instigated and gave legitimacy to the fascist violence carried out in the days afterward. Bolsonaro said:
“I am sure that, among my functions guaranteed by the Constitution, is being the supreme chief of the Armed Forces. ... I have always said, throughout these four years, that the Armed Forces are the last obstacle to socialism. The Armed Forces, be sure, stand united.”
He added: “Today we are living a crucial moment, at a crossroads, a destiny that the people have to take. It is you who decide my future and where I go. You are the ones who decide where the Armed Forces go. Who decides where the Congress, the Senate go, are you too.”
Bolsonaro’s silence after the violent acts committed by his supporters, as on previous occasions, is an indisputable sign of approval.
The Armed Forces, to which both the president and his fascist supporters appeal, have also remained silent on these events. That silence is even more ominous in face of an extraordinary statement given by the Armed Forces Command about the fascist demonstrations demanding a military coup. On November 11, the commanders issued an official note characterizing this movement as “popular demonstrations” and affirming the military’s “unshakable commitment to the Brazilian people” and its historical role as a “moderating power.”
The exacerbation of political tensions in recent days led Lula’s team to make unprecedented preparations and agreements for Sunday’s ceremony.
The team has demanded the closure of the Esplanade of Ministries starting Friday for bomb screening, the employment of the National Public Security Force and the mobilization of 8,000 security agents for Inauguration Day. It is still under discussion whether Lula will ride to the ceremony in a convertible car, as is customary in Brazil, or in a bullet-proof vehicle.
The changes in protocol were motivated not only by fears of individual actions of terrorism, but of the direct participation of state agencies and the military in a possible coup in Brasilia.
Lula’s team decided to take his personal security out of the hands of the Cabinet of Institutional Security (GSI) and to drastically reduce the GSI’s traditional participation in the inauguration ceremony. The GSI is currently commanded by Gen. Augusto Heleno, who recently lamented in public the fact that the president-elect, Lula, “is not sick ... unfortunately.”
In another extraordinary decision, the defense minister pointed by Lula, José Múcio Monteiro, negotiated the moving up of the change of command of the Navy and Army, traditionally held after the presidential inauguration. The action was a preemptive maneuver aimed against the growing threats of insubordination by the military chiefs toward the new government.
The possibility of accelerating the change of command initially emerged as a threat to the elected government by the military chiefs themselves. Lula’s choice of the generals’ favorite, Múcio, for the Defense ministry, praised in the press as a gesture of subordination of the PT government to the military, had supposedly made the proposal recede.
However, the decision, taken hastily on Monday amid rumors that the Navy’s commander Almir Garnier was inclined to resign his post, made it clear that the PT government’s crisis with the military is far from resolved.
The attitude Bolsonaro will take on Inauguration Day remains unknown. The media has announced that, according to his allies, the president will not attend the ceremony, breaking the basic protocols of Brazilian democracy and manifesting his persistent challenge to the election result.
Instead of attending the event, there are reports that the fascistic Brazilian president intends to travel later this week to Florida, where he would spend the next few days at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago complex. The links between Bolsonaro’s coup plots in Brazil and Trump’s allies, who promoted the attempted coup at Washington’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, have long been established.
Bolsonaro has only stated in an interview with CNN that the reports that he would hold a farewell meeting of his government in Brasilia and then embark to Florida were “fake news.”
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Everything to know about Lula’s inauguration
The Workers’ Party leader will begin his third term with an official ceremony, artistic performances and representation of 120 countries
Lula with his full cabinet of Ministers. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert
The presidential inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party of Brazil is expected to be a historic political, cultural, and international event. The government team organizing the ceremony expects over 300,000 people to be present on Sunday January 1 at the Esplanade of the Ministries in the capital Brasilia.
On Tuesday December 27, the National Congress held a simulation of the inauguration ceremony, to rehearse the steps of the teams that will perform that day. The schedule begins with the arrival of the authorities and other guests, scheduled between 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm on Sunday. From 1:45 pm onwards, the Heads of Government and State who will attend the event will begin to arrive.
The international guest list is also set to break records. In total, Lula will receive representatives from 120 countries. 53 of them with heads of state and ministers. 17 heads of state are confirmed from Germany, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Guinea-Bissau, Paraguay, Portugal, Suriname, East Timor, Uruguay, Zimbabwe and Spain, whose representative will be King Felipe VI. In 2019, President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) received 10 heads of state and 18 delegations in total during the inauguration.
Additionally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro confirmed on Friday December 30 that he would attend the ceremony in Brasilia. The announcement was made after Jair Bolsonaro’s government revoked an ordinance banning his entry to Brazil, put in place in August 2019. The participation of Maduro marks a new chapter in the neighboring countries’ relationship which had been in a stalemate under the rule of Bolsonaro.
According to the day’s program, Lula and the vice-president elect, Geraldo Alckmin, will arrive at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia between 2:20 pm and 2:30 pm, and shortly after, their motorcade will head to the National Congress. It is not yet known if Lula will be in an open car. Lula’s security team favors an armored vehicle to increase protection against possible attacks, but Lula is reportedly against the idea and prefers to ride in an open car.
Lula and Alckmin will arrive at Congress at 2:40 pm, and will be officially received by the presidents of the Congress, Rodrigo Pacheco (Social Democratic Party), and of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (Progressive Party). At 3:00 pm, the session of presidential investiture begins, which takes place in the Plenary hall.
The ceremony ends at 3:50 pm, when Lula and Alckmin will go to the Hall of the Presidency of the Federal Senate, from where they will leave at 4:00 pm to the outside area of the Congress to attend the military honors ceremony. At 4:20 pm they will leave for the Planalto Palace, where Lula will receive the presidential sash.
As outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro has fled Brazil to Florida, and his vice-president, Hamilton Mourão, will also not participate in the ceremony, the sash will be given to Lula by someone else. Finally, after leaving the Planalto, the new president will be received by heads of state and representatives of other countries at the Itamaraty Palace (headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), located on the Esplanade of the Ministries.
Innovations
The inauguration has traditional characteristics, but this year will also feature some innovations. Coordinated by the future first lady, Rosângela da Silva [Janja], the ceremony will feature, for example, the presence of Lula and Janja’s dog Resistência [Resistance], adopted by the sociologist in Curitiba, when Lula was still incarcerated in the city’s Federal Police Superintendence.
Resistência will participate in the ceremony directly from the ramp of the Planalto Palace, as a symbol of Lula’s resistance during the period he was imprisoned. Other changes from recent years include the decision to not have fireworks with noise, in respect for animals and people with disabilities and autism.
The change responds to a request from representatives of these sectors, who also requested that the new government avoid the 21 cannon shots typical of the ceremony. Performed by the 32nd Field Artillery Group, the honor was created at the time of the proclamation of the Republic, but should be revised this year. Lula’s team is coordinating with the Senate to try to find an alternative to this rite.
Concerts
The official protocol program is not the only one on inauguration day. There will also be a series of concerts from 10 am to 1 pm, and they will resume at 6:30 pm, when the institutional rites are over. In total, 57 artists will perform in ten different shows.
The concert part of the day’s events, called Festival of the Future, will feature local and national names on two stages, baptized Gal Costa and Elza Soares in homage to the two Brazilian singers who passed away in 2022. The public attending the venue will be able to follow the official ceremony of Lula’s parade and the shows also on large screens distributed throughout the space.
Social movements
Caravans from all regions of the country have been arriving to Brasilia over the past several days to participate in the Popular Movements’ Camp for the inauguration. The delegations are staying in the Mané Garrincha Stadium, and an estimated 10,000 people are expected to arrive at the Camp.
With participation of diverse social organizations and movements of Brazil such as the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement, the World March of Women, Movement of People Affected by Dams, and others, the Popular Movements’ Camp materializes the collective work of thousands of workers from the countryside and the city that, in the last period, dedicated themselves to the campaign to elect Lula.
According to Tuira Tule, from the MST’s national direction, “Everything we have experienced in the last period since the coup we experienced in 2016, was a great process of preparation for this moment.”
The Camp will be inaugurated on the afternoon of December 31 with the Assembly of Popular Movements, reaffirming the position of the organizations to continue fighting and organizing in defense of social rights and public policies that transform the lives of the working class in the third mandate of Lula’s government. “It will be a space to debate about our political moment, but mainly to prepare ourselves for the inauguration day, in a collective way and with much hope and joy,” Tule stated.
Security
Due of the magnitude and importance of the event, the inauguration will have a super security scheme at the Ministries Esplanade and around the Three Branches. In total, 700 Federal Police agents will be deployed at the site, which will also have a bomb squad and an aerial barrier to prevent the presence of drones in the vicinity. The nearly 300,000 people expected at the Esplanade will need to go through a personal search to enter the site.
There will also be a massive contingent from the Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District. The Federal District government has not yet released the details of the operation, which should come to light in the coming days. It is already known, however, that agents from the administrative area of the police have been called to work in patrolling.
The future Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, met with the governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis, on Tuesday December 27, and said after the meeting that the inauguration “will occur as scheduled in all its dimensions…There will be full mobilization, 100% of the police forces of DF, both the Military Police, Civil Police, Fire Department, to ensure the safety not only of the president of the Republic, but of the foreign delegations and the people who will participate in the event,” said the future minister.
With inputs from Brasil de Fato and MST.
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