Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the swearing-in ceremony of Tarciana Medeiros, the first woman to preside the Banco do Brasil. AP
Brasilia: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has sacked over 40 troops tasked with guarding the presidential palace after he expressed distrust in the military for its failure to act against demonstrations that plundered government offices on 8 January this year.
The president’s orders were published on Tuesday in the government’s official gazette.
Troops guarding the presidential residence, called the Alvorada palace, include officers from the national army, Navy and Air Force as well as a militarised police force.
‘Forces complicit in guarding palace’
According to a report by Reuters, last week the left-wing leader claimed that security forces in charge of guarding the president’s residence were complicit in letting a mob supporting the former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro storm into the building.
“There were a lot of people who were complicit in this among the military police. There were many people from the armed forces who were complicit,” Lula told reporters.
“I am convinced that the door to the palace was opened to allow these people in because I did not see that the door was broken,” he added.
Investigations are underway to determine whether the rampage was caused by intentional security lapses or not.
Following Lula’s historic win in October, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in January seeking to overturn the election results.
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