The day before, police had detonated a controlled explosive device and arrested a suspect accused of having ties to the Brasilia camp.
“Yesterday’s serious events in Brasilia prove that the so-called ‘camps’ have become hotbeds for terrorists,” Dino tweeted. “There will be no amnesty for terrorists, their supporters and financiers.”
Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro have been camping outside military bases in Brazil for weeks, calling on the military to reverse the victory of left-wing president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who takes office on January 1.
Dino said the arrangements for Lula’s inauguration “will be reviewed with a view to tightening security measures”. In another tweet, Dino said he would propose creating “Tasks to counter terrorism and irresponsible weapons.” These political militias are not compatible with the rule of law.
News of the bomb added a new dimension to post-election violence in Brazil, where tensions remain high after the toughest election in a generation.
Bolsonaro, who has yet to admit defeat, has made baseless claims about the credibility of Brazil’s electoral system, and many of his supporters believe him. The head of Brazil’s electoral authority last month rejected a complaint from Bolsonaro’s allies seeking to contest the presidential election.
The camp in Brasilia, outside the army headquarters, has become one of the most extreme in the country. On December 12, the day Lula’s victory was confirmed, some camp residents attacked the federal police headquarters in Brasilia.
Robson Cândido, chief of Brasilia’s civilian police, said a 54-year-old man from the northeastern state of Para was arrested and confessed to planting the explosive device in a tanker near Brasilia’s airport to cause chaos.
“He came to join the protests in front of the army headquarters and he is part of the movement that supports the current president,” Candido told reporters. “They’re on this mission that they think is ideological, but it’s gotten out of hand.”
Police also found assault rifles and other explosives in an apartment the man was renting in Brasilia. Cândido said the suspect was a registered gun owner known as CAC, a group that has increased sixfold to nearly 700,000 people since Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 and began easing gun laws.
Cândido said the man and his helpers tried to activate the explosive, but it failed to explode. It is still unclear how many other people were involved. “We have never had bombs here in Brazil,” said the head of the civil police in Brasilia. (SDA)