It is a strong and unfiltered accusation made by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, towards his rival Jair Bolsonaro.
"Today I am aware and I say it loud and clear: this citizen [former President Bolsonaro] prepared the coup" of January 8, 2023, Lula said Thursday, February 2 in an interview with to the local television channel RedeTV!.
On January 8, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters, unhappy with Lula's victory over his far-right rival in the October 2022 presidential election, invaded and vandalized the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court.
"I'm sure Bolsonaro actively participated in this and is still trying to participate," Lula added when asked about the former president's role in these events. "They wanted to make this mess on January 1, but they realized they couldn't do it because there were too many policemen and too many people on the streets," added the current president, who narrowly imposed in the second round with 50.9%, against 49.1% for Jair Bolsonaro.
"We have yet to defeat Bolsonarism"
A Brazilian judge has decided to include the ex-leader, who left Brazil for Florida at the end of December, in the investigation which aims to determine who is behind the ransacking of Brazilian institutions.
These statements by President Lula come on the same day as those of Senator Marcos do Val, who assured that he had participated in a meeting with the ex-president where it was a question of preventing Lula from coming to power.
"We have defeated Bolsonaro, but we still have to defeat Bolsonarism," President Lula said in the interview with the local television channel.
According to Jair Bolsonaro's lawyers, the latter has applied for an extension of his six-month visa to stay in the United States. He denies having any connection whatsoever with the events of January 8.
