Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sacked the army chief on Saturday only a few days after openly acknowledging that certain military members promoted the far-right riots on January 8 in the nation’s capital.
General Julio Cesar de Arruda apparently lost his job as army commander, according to the official website of the Brazilian armed forces. The Southeast Military Command’s new leader General Tomas Miguel Ribeiro Paiva assumed responsibility.
Lula recently criticized the military after Jair Bolsonaro’s followers ransacked government facilities and harmed public property in an effort to keep Bolsonaro in office. The uprising emphasised Brazil’s left-right divide.
Lula stated in public on several occasions that there were army troops who probably let the riots to occur, though he never specifically mentioned Arruda.
This week, Lula asserted that “a lot of military police and armed forces officers were engaged” and had let protesters to enter the premises through unlocked doors. He said this while having breakfast with the media. In a different interview, the president promised that “all the troops engaged in the coup attempt will be punished, regardless of rank.”
