Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to Brasilia to find the enormous damage to the Presidential Palace, looted by supporters of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro who strongly condemned this invasion reminding a lot of that of the Capitol in Washington two years ago years, AFP comments, Agerpres reports.

Lula da Silva, who had spent the afternoon in Araquara, in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast), devastated by floods, went to the Presidential Palace, then to the Supreme Court, invaded and looted by the Bolsonarians, like the Congress. Images broadcast on TV Globo show him in a discussion, late at night, with Supreme Court judges, in front of the building with broken windows by those who still refuse to accept his return to power.

Jair Bolsonaro is in the United States, where he left two days before the inauguration of Lula da Silva, refusing to hand over the presidential scarf to the one who defeated him by a short lead and whom he never congratulated.

„Peaceful demonstrations, in accordance with the law, are part of democracy. However, the destruction and invasion of public buildings (…) are against the rule,” the former far-right president wrote on Twitter. In another message, he „rejected the accusations, without evidence” of his successor.

Lula da Silva said his far-right predecessor’s „speech” had „encouraged” the „fascist vandals” invading the Presidential Palace, the Supreme Court and Congress in Brasilia. In office for only a week and already faced with a major crisis, the leftist president lamented the events „unprecedented in the history of Brazil”.

The head of state placed local law enforcement under the command of federal forces to restore security in Brasilia where the police were totally overwhelmed by the Bolsonarian assault.

The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flavio Dino, stated in a press conference on Sunday evening that the seats of power were completely evacuated and that over 200 people were arrested. „They will not be able to destroy democracy”, he declared, considering the attack as „coup terrorism”.

The governor of the federal district of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, an ally of Jair Bolsonaro, apologized to President Lula da Silva in a video message. He described those responsible for destroying public buildings as „real vandals” and „real terrorists”.

„We were supervising all these movements together with Minister Flavio Dino (…) At no point did we think that these demonstrations would take on such proportions,” he said.

Other allies of the former president also distanced themselves from this violence, including Valdemar Costa Neto, the president of PL, Bolsonaro’s party, who condemned „a sad day for the Brazilian nation”. These attacks caused an avalanche of indignant reactions in the world. French President Emmanuel Macron told Lula da Silva that he could „count on France’s unwavering support”.

Agerpres