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About 500 guests are invited to an event in Brazil's Congress
where leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and
Congressional leaders are expected to speak.
"We must never forget January 8, 2023: the day that some
irresponsible people attempted a coup in this country. But the
Three Powers stood out and democracy won," Lula said on Sunday
on social media. "Long live democracy!"
Governors from all states were invited, but some who oppose
Lula's government were unlikely to attend.
In January 2023, supporters of hard-right former president Jair
Bolsonaro stormed the buildings that symbolize Brazil's
democracy, a week after Lula had taken office. They opposed his
October election victory and called for a military coup.
Bolsonaro, who never conceded defeat, had left the country for
the United States before the presidential handover to Lula.
The assault on Brasilia's main government buildings was the
Brazilian equivalent of the attack on the U.S. Capitol by
supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021
after his election loss to Joe Biden.
About 2,000 people were arrested over the Brasilia attack,
though most were later released. Others have been convicted by
the Supreme Court on charges of an attempted coup, among other
crimes, following police investigations into those who took part
in the riots and who fostered or funded the attack.
Bolsonaro is under investigation by the Supreme Court for
allegedly masterminding the riots, something he denies.
Brazil`s electoral authority banned Bolsonaro from running for
elected office for eight years over abuse of power and misuse of
the media ahead of the 2022 election, when he summoned
ambassadors to vent unfounded claims about Brazil's electronic
voting system.
Supreme Court judge Gilmar Mendes has accused Bolsonaro of
political responsibility for the assault on Brasilia and that
the armed forces had been encouraged by the former president not
to stop his supporters protesting. Bolsonaro has denied any
involvement in the matter.
A poll by Genial/Quaest released on Sunday showed that a large
majority of Brazilians disapprove of the riots, with 89% against
the protests by Bolsonaro backers and 6% for them.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito, writing by Fabio Teixeira, editing
by Anthony Boadle and Mark Heinrich)
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