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Failed attack on the Brazilian Supreme Court
A man carrying explosives died Wednesday evening in Brasilia after trying in vain to enter the building of the Supreme Court of Brazil, a failed “attack” according to the authorities. This attempted attack targeting a major institution of the Brazilian democracy awakens the memory of the far-right riots against the seats of the executive, legislative and judicial branches in the same square in the capital in January 2023. It also takes place in a particularly strong context: the president of left Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosts a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week and a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Brasilia. “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 occurred in front of the door”, declared to the press the governor of Brasilia, Celina Leao. According to preliminary information, it was a “suicide”, continued the governor. She mentioned the trail of “a lone wolf”, while explaining that it was not possible for the moment to determine his identity because the body “is still loaded with explosives”. The Supreme Court is on the Place des Trois-Pouvoirs, where it faces the presidential palace and Parliament. Lula was not at the presidential palace at the time of the explosions, a presidential spokesperson told AFP. – Car on fire – The two explosions occurred in a short period of time around 7:30 p.m. (local time, 10:30 p.m. GMT) and did not cause any injuries. Police officers carrying out a patrol had spotted the vehicle on fire and surrounded by smoke and saw the individual get out quickly, reported Sergeant Santos, of the Military Police of the Federal District (which includes Brasilia). “There is some kind of bomb in the car, several explosives connected by bricks, but it did not catch fire completely”, he detailed. The federal police announced that they had opened an investigation into “the attacks”, without further details. A little earlier, an AFP photographer had seen the lifeless body of ‘a man. “We can confirm that there is a body before the Federal Supreme Court,” a spokesperson for the federal police confirmed to AFP. The court initially announced that at the end of the court session On Wednesday, “two loud explosions were heard and the judges were evacuated from the building for safety.” The staff on site were also evacuated “as a precautionary measure”. – G20 in Rio – The presidential palace is closed and no one can enter, noted an AFP photographer. Under pouring rain, the entire square was cordoned off by an imposing deployment of security forces. Laiana Costa, an official at the Union Audit Court, another official body, told local media that she had seen a “man passing “: “Suddenly I heard a noise, I looked behind, there was fire and smoke.” On January 8, 2023, a week after Lula’s return to power, thousands of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, his far-right predecessor defeated in the presidential election at the end of 2022, stormed and ransacked the headquarters of institutions on the Place des Trois-Pouvoirs. The authorities had finally regained control of the situation in the face of the Bolsonarist rioters contesting the defeat of their champion, but the damage had been considerable. The attacks of January 8 were “very significant, sad too, and of course led to change security rules for all powers, for all buildings housing the three powers”, noted the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco. Among other sensitive investigations, Alexandre de Moraes, a powerful judge of the Supreme Court, is leading the investigations into this alleged “coup d’état” attempt. Lula will host a G20 summit on Monday and Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, bringing together most of the leaders of the world’s main economies. On Wednesday, he is due to receive a visit to Brasilia from State the Chinese president.bur-ll-tmo/jnd
