BRAZIL: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the new president of Brazil, fired the head of the army after it was said that the general tried to keep right-wing rioters from being charged after the January 8 uprising in Brasilia.
Gen. Jilio Cesar de Arruda, who had only taken office in late December, was fired almost two weeks after Bolsonaro supporters wreaked havoc in Brazil’s capital in what Lula’s administration called a failed coup attempt.
Some of Lula’s supporters think that Arruda is politically close to Bolsonaro. On the night of the attack, police could not hold suspected rioters hiding at a camp outside the army headquarters in Brasilia.
Numerous right-wing criminals are thought to have managed to evade detention after looting Brazil’s congress, supreme court, and presidential mansion, thanks to that very contentious judgment. Also, it has shown that people were right to think that some members of Brazil’s military helped the revolt in some way.
Military and police officials strongly back Bolsonaro, a pro-gun former army captain who has spent decades building relationships with Brazil’s security forces. Reports say that several military officials supported and took part in the pro-Bolsonaro uprising. Lula has said that he thinks the rioters got help from inside that let them get into the presidential palace.
According to the newspaper O Globo, Lula has fired at least 80 military workers from their jobs in his government in the last five days. This is an attempt to get rid of people who are very loyal to Bolsonaro.
Gen. Tomás Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, the 62-year-old commander of the military command in charge of the southeast in So Paulo, will take over for Arruda.
Ribeiro Paiva asked troops in a speech shared on social media on Friday to respect the election outcome from last October, which Lula won by almost 2 million votes.
Lauro Jardim, a well-known Brazilian journalist, claimed that Arruda was fired because he refused Lula’s order to fire Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, Lt Col Mauro Cid, who was given command of a specialized army battalion near Brasilia in the final weeks of Bolsonaro’s presidency.
Also Read: Bolsonaro Ally Detained in Brazil for Alleged Coup Attempt
