“First there was the explosion (of a) car”, then an “individual approached the Federal Supreme Court, tried to enter, did not succeed and the explosion is produced in front of the door,” the governor of Brasilia, Celina Leao, told the press. According to preliminary information, it is a “suicide,” added the governor. She mentioned the trail of “a lone wolf”, while explaining that it was not possible at the moment to determine his identity because the body “is still loaded with explosives”.
The Supreme Court evacuated
The Supreme Court is located on the Place des Trois-Pouvoirs, where it faces the presidential palace and the Parliament. Lula was not at the presidential palace at the time of the explosions, a presidential spokesperson told AFP.
The two explosions occurred within a short period of time around 7:30 p.m. (local time, 11:30 p.m. in Switzerland) and caused no injuries. Police conducting a patrol spotted the vehicle on fire and surrounded by smoke and saw the individual rushing out, reported Sergeant Santos, of the Federal District Military Police (which includes Brasilia).
“There is a kind of bomb in the car, several explosives connected by bricks, but it did not completely catch fire,” he detailed.
The court initially announced that at the end of Wednesday's session, “two loud explosions were heard and the judges were evacuated from the building for safety.” Staff on site were also evacuated “as a precautionary measure”.
The presidential palace closed
The presidential palace is closed and no one can enter, noted an AFP photographer. In pouring rain, the entire square was cordoned off by an imposing deployment of security forces.
On January 8, 2023, a week after Lula's return to power, thousands of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, former far-right head of state defeated in the presidential election at the end of 2022, stormed and ransacked the seats institutions on the Place des Trois-Pouvoirs. The authorities had finally regained control of the situation.
This assassination attempt also takes place in a particularly strong context: left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is hosting a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week and a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Brasilia. .
