Brasilia today remembers the extremist attacks and invasions of Congress and the Supreme Court on January 8, 2023.

The city of Brasília, the federal capital of Brazil, this Monday remembers in several ceremonies the brutal attacks carried out on January 8, 2023 by right-wing radicals associated with former President Jair Bolsonaro, who invaded and destroyed the Congress, the Federal Supreme Court ((STF) and the Palácio do Planalto , the residence of the President of the Republic. Protests will also take place in other cities in Brazil, causing the biggest attack on democracy in the country in decades.

On that day, exactly one year ago this Monday, thousands of right-wing extremists who had been massed for weeks near the army headquarters, as well as others who had arrived early in the morning from different parts of the country, marched along the Esplanade dos Ministerios to the central region of Brasília, where most of the government bodies are concentrated, and Praça dos Tres Poderes, where the Congress, STF and the Presidential Palace are located. The reduced security forces sent to guard these sites failed to stop the advance of the crowds, on the contrary, they facilitated access and even escorted the vandals, it is now known that this was done on the orders of officers sympathetic to Jair Bolsonaro.

For several hours, vandals wearing shirts with Bolsonaro’s photo and waving Brazilian flags destroyed everything they could inside the Congress, the STF and the Planalto Palace, destroying symbols of the Republic, works of art and historical treasures. In the Congress they set fire to several premises, and in the STF, in addition to starting a fire, they even detonated a grenade.

It was only late that day, after Lula da Silva, who had taken office for his third presidential term just a week earlier, had decreed federal intervention in Brasília, that the security forces began to act on the orders of the intervening Ricardo. Capelli, Minister of Justice and Public Security. On January 8, 2023, 254 people were arrested red-handed in captured and destroyed centers of power, and the next day, January 9, almost two thousand more were arrested in a camp that ultra-radicals set up next to the center of power. The barracks are army generals with the connivance and obvious support of the high military command.

A year later, 30 of the 1,345 accused in the wave of brutality have been sentenced to up to 17 years in prison, there are still around a hundred accused in pre-trial detention and the Federal Supreme Court estimates that 175 accused will be completed by the end of April. Federal Police investigations continue and this Monday marks the 23rd stage of Operation Lesa-Pátria, which aims to arrest both those who participated in the acts of vandalism and have not yet been arrested, as well as those who instigated and financed these acts. , who, according to the official version, sought to create an atmosphere of political and social chaos and force the Armed Forces to intervene and take command of Brazil, removing Lula from the presidency and returning power to Jair Bolsonaro, who had fled a few days earlier. in USA.

This Monday morning, the Congress opened an exhibition with photographs taken on January 8, 2023 and vandalized objects that have not yet been restored, and the STF will hold a meeting at 14:00 recalling the alleged coup attempt (17:00 in Lisbon ). An hour later, at 18:00, the main ceremony dedicated to this date will begin in the Portuguese capital, a ceremonial meeting in Congress, at which speeches are scheduled by the Chairman of Parliament Rodrigo Pacheco, STF Luiz Roberto Barroso and Lula da Silva.