Brazilian authorities met on Wednesday in Brasilia to commemorate the second anniversary of the alleged coup attempt by followers of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was accompanied by the vice president of the Supreme Court, Luiz Edson Fachin, in a ceremony at the presidential palace, one of the buildings that Bolsonaro supporters destroyed in 2023 in an attempt to provoke a military intervention that would oust the leftist leader from office.
“We are here not to regret, but not to forget. “We are here to celebrate and strengthen democracy and deliver to the Brazilian people their completely restored heritage,” said Brazil’s first lady, Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, as she opened the ceremony at the Presidential Palace.
On January 8, 2023, thousands of pro-Bolsonaro rioters They overcame the barricades around the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court, climbed onto the roofs, broke windows, They urinated on valuable works of art and damaged historical Brazilian works. They invaded government buildings and called for military intervention to remove Lula from office.
The works of art have been restoredin collaboration with Swiss authorities, and are being reintroduced to the public, said the Brazilian presidency. Lula had invited the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, and the president of the lower house, Arthur Lira, but neither participated in the ceremony.
Brazil’s Supreme Court is scheduled to host discussions with employees who witnessed the court’s invasion and others who participated in the reconstruction efforts. A remembrance website is being established and an exhibition of art produced using the remains of the chaos will open.
The trials against Bolsonaro
The anniversary takes place amidst several legal cases directed against Bolsonaro, who narrowly lost to Lula in the 2022 election, then questioned the legitimacy of the results and refused to concede.
The Federal Police has formally charged Bolsonaro and 36 others, including senior military officers, of attempting a coup d’état. The indictment is sealed, but authorities had been investigating if he incited the January 8 uprising.
The former leader is an avowed admirer of US President-elect Donald Trump, and the riot in Brasilia offered an echo of the Capitol insurrection in Washington in January 2021.
Legal experts believe that Bolsonaro could be charged and face trial in the second half of 2025 in the Supreme Court over accusations of falsifying his COVID-19 vaccination status. Analysts also say there is a reasonable chance he will be tried before 2026 on allegations that embezzled jewelry given by Saudi authorities.
The electoral court of Brazil has already banned Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030after a panel ruled that he abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.
His supporters have focused most of their ire on the Supreme Court, particularly the juez Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over several investigations directed against them. Last year he publicly warned Brazilians that any celebration of January 8 would constitute a crime.
According to a Supreme Court report published on Tuesday, so far 898 people have been held criminally responsible for the January 8 uprising, with 371 convicted and the rest signing leniency agreements. The report states that there are 485 additional investigations underway.