Lula maintains there were definitely people in the army who allowed the rioting to occur.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has fired Brazil's army chief amid concerns over threats to the country's democracy following the January 8 uprising in the capital by far-right protesters.
The official website of the Brazilian armed forces said on Saturday that General Julio Cesar de Arruda had been removed as head of the army.
He was replaced by General Tomas Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, who was head of the Southeast Military Command.
In recent weeks, the military has been targeted by Lula after supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed through government buildings and destroyed public property.
Lula said several times in public that there were definitely people in the army who allowed the rioting to occur.
Rioters who stormed through the Brazilian Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in Brasilia sought to have the military intervene and overturn Bolsonaro’s loss to Lula in the presidential election.
READ MORE: Brazil's Lula vows to defeat 'fanatical far right', calls it 'new monster'
Lula's relation with army
More than a thousand people were arrested on the day of the riot, which bore strong similarities to the January 6, 2021, riots at the US Congress by mobs who wanted to overturn former president Donald Trump’s election loss.
The relationship with the armed forces will be one of Lula's biggest immediate challenges, say analysts who point to a significant military presence in Bolsonaro's administration.
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice earlier this month authorised adding Bolsonaro in its investigation into who incited the rioting in Brasilia as part of a broader crackdown to hold responsible parties to account.
According to the text of his ruling, Justice Alexandre de Moraes granted the request from the prosecutor-general’s office, which cited a video that Bolsonaro posted on Facebook two days after the riot.
The video claimed Lula wasn't voted into office, but rather was chosen by the Supreme Court and Brazil's electoral authority.
On Wednesday, Paiva vowed that the military "will continue to guarantee democracy" and suggested that the results of the election in which Lula defeated Bolsonaro should be accepted.
"When we vote, we have to respect the result of the polls," he said in a speech, clips of which were seen on the G1 news website.
READ MORE: Brazil's Lula claims intelligence services failed ahead of Brasilia riots
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.