Lula leads a military parade and seeks to get closer to the Army

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, headed this Thursday the civic-military parade of Independence Day, making gestures to try depoliticize this commemorative date after the management of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula led the parade near two hours carried out by the Armed Forces and several civil institutions in the Esplanade of the Ministries, the monumental avenue of Brasilia where the headquarters of the three powers are located.

Lula was accompanied by numerous ministers, his wife Rosângela “Janja” Lula da Silva, as well as the commanders of the Armed Forces, with whom he posed for a group photogrh. shaking hands, looking for a rprochement.

During the ceremony, Lula did not make speechesbut the day before he made a statement to the nation on national radio and television, in which called for the unity of the countryemphasizing that this goal “can only be achieved without hate.”

Independence Day, he stressed, this year “is not a day of hate or fear, but of unity. The day to remember that Brazil is one (…) a great nation, a unique and extraordinary people.”

“In just eight months, we have returned Brazil to the path of democracy, sovereignty and unity. Economic development with social inclusion,” he said.

In this way, but without expressly citing his predecessor, Lula alluded to the management of Bolsonaro, leader of the extreme right, who used the commemorations of Independence Day for electoral purposes and took advantage of his speeches to intensify his attacks against the electoral system and against the opposition.

This Thursday, the authorities They did not record any incidentdespite the fact that threats of possible attacks had been registered in far-right groups on social networks.

These threats led the Government to mobilize the National Force, an elite group of the Police, to reinforce the security of the cital.

When announcing this reinforcement, the Defense Minister, Flavio Dino, minimized these threats, but at the same time stressed that the Government would not allow attacks against institutions to be repeated, such as those carried out by thousands of far-right radicals on January 8. .

On that date, Bolsonaro’s followers They simultaneously invaded the headquarters of the Supreme Court and the National Congress and the Planalto Palace, seat of the Executive power, causing considerable damage, in an attempt to force a coup against Lula.

The Minister of Social Communication, Paulo Pimenta, said after the parade this Thursday that the government’s objective with the Independence Day celebrations has been “reestablish democratic normality” and “return September 7 to the Brazilian people.”