'Made an elementary mistake, my intelligence services failed ahead of Jan 8 Brasilia riot': President Lula

Brasilia: “My intelligence” services failed ahead of January 8 riots when supporters of Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Brasilia buildings, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said. In an interview to TV channel GloboNews, Lula said: “We made an elementary mistake, my intelligence did not exist (that day). We have Army intelligence, Air Force intelligence, ABIN (Brazil’s Intelligence Agency); none of them warned me.” The latest remarks come within hours after Lula dismissed 13 more military officers who were assigned to the National Security Advisor’s office that is responsible for the president’s security. Earlier this week, 40 military officers from the Alvorada presidential residence were removed after Lula expressed his distrust in the military for failing to act against supporters of former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro. Notably, mere days ahead of the attack on the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and the Congress building, by supporters of far-right ex-president Bolsonaro, Lula said the rioters likely had inside help and suspected there was collusion by “people in the armed forces”. “I had the impression it was the beginning of a coup d’état,” Lula said about the riot. After the attack, the Brazilian president ordered a thorough staffing review, saying he was “convinced that the door of the Planalto (presidential) palace was opened for people to enter because there are no broken doors.” Also Read: Brazil Prez Lula da Silva doesn’t trust his own military, sacks over 40 troops guarding presidential palace Lula stressed that he would prefer to maintain civilized relations with Brazil’s armed forces, but noted that they must not be politicised. Later this week, Lula is expected to meet the Army, Navy and Air Force commanders. “I don’t want to have problems with the forces, nor they with me. But those who want to be involved in politics should take off the uniform, resign from office and then enter politics,” Lula said. Brazil attack compared to Jan 6 Capitol riots On January 8, supporters of Bolsonaro attacked presidential palace in Brasilia which was immediately compared to the 6 January US Capitol riots carried out by followers of Donald Trump in 2021. Lula was not in Brasilia at the time of the attack and he also gave an angry speech blaming Bolsonaro for the chaos and promising that “anyone involved will be punished”. Lula, a veteran leftist, was sworn in as Brazil’s new president on 1 January in celebrations attended by scores of Brazilians. The 77-year-old secured a third term after defeating Bolsonaro in October during the tightest presidential race in decades. Lula narrow victory in October’s election, however, has not been accepted by thousands of pro-Bolsonaro extremists, who were camping outside army bases across country and calling for a military coup. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .