40 kilos of explosives meant to spoil Lula’s inauguration
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a meeting with trade union representatives at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
The Police deactivated a series of explosive devices found in a pasture in the surroundings of Brasilia a week before the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president of Brazil, official sources reported on Monday.
The events occurred Sunday, one day after a man who tried to detonate an explosive device at the airport in the Brazilian capital was arrested and confessed that his objective was to cause chaos to prevent Lula’s inauguration on January 1.
According to the Police, after an anonymous complaint, the explosives were found in the surroundings of Gama, a district of Brasilia located about 35 kilometers from the area where the ministries are located in the country’s capital.
The bomb squad of the Special Operations Battalion deactivated the devices through a controlled explosion.
Although the authorities did not confirm the amount, local media say that it was about 40 kilos of explosives.
At the scene, the authorities also found several bulletproof vests
The material was seized one day after the arrest of George Washington de Oliveira Sousa, a businessman who confessed to having planted a bomb inside a fuel tanker truck, which was deactivated by the authorities after the driver denounced that they had introduced a suspicious package in the vehicle.
The 54-year-old man, from whom an entire arsenal was seized at his residence, confessed that he built the device and that he introduced it into the vehicle, in an act that, he said, was planned by him, along with a group of Bolsonaristas. , to cause chaos, force the authorities to declare a state of siege, and thereby allow the military to initiate a coup.
Since the progressive leader was elected for his third term, last October, the most radical Bolsonaro groups have gathered in front of Army barracks calling for a coup to prevent Lula’s inauguration.
The progressive leader will take office next Sunday in a massive event in which at least 17 heads of state or government have confirmed attendance, including the king of Spain and the presidents of Germany, Portugal, Argentina, and Uruguay.
For the event, called “Festival of the Future”, some 300,000 people are expected to participate in a musical party organized for the population to greet Lula.
