Sawt Falasteen - Brasilia ups security over new protest threat

Demonstrations called for several cities on Wednesday evening were slow to get started, however, with officers in anti-riot gear and helicopter backup left twiddling their thumbs for what had been billed as a major mobilization.

AFP observed virtually no turnout in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, nothing like the "gigantic" rally promised to "take power back" from Bolsonaro's successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

One of just two protesters in Sao Paulo, law student Luis Augusto Gomes Machado, said he answered the call "to defend free expression, which is a constitutional right."

The 20-year-old said that though he opposed Lula, he was against Sunday's trashing of the presidency, Congress and Supreme Court in Brasilia by thousands of Bolsonaro backers.

Eager to prevent a repeat of Sunday's riots, authorities Wednesday blocked roads leading to the Esplanade of Ministries in the capital in anticipation of renewed unrest.

The esplanade houses all government ministries as well as the three buildings targeted in Sunday's violent uprising.

In an invitation posted on social media, Bolsonaro backers were urged to turn out in Brasilia and other cities in a country left deeply divided by October elections in which leftist Lula narrowly beat far-right Bolsonaro.

Ever since Bolsonaro's defeat, his most hard-core defenders have been clamoring for the military to launch a coup against Lula.

And on Sunday, hundreds of protestors clad in the yellow-and-green colors of the Brazilian flag -- coopted by Bolsonaro and his backers as a symbol of nationalist fervor -- stormed the symbolic seats of power.

Dubbed "fanatical fascists" by Lula, they clashed with police, beat up journalists, and left a trail of destruction in their wake.

Hundreds have been arrested and Brasilia has been quiet since police on Monday rounded up so-called "bolsonaristas" who had been camped out in the capital since October.

According to a poll published Wednesday by the Sao Paulo-based Atlas Intelligence data company, nearly one in five Brazilians said they approved of Sunday's capital rampage.

- 'Crazy people' -

"All the public security forces are mobilized" to protect Brasilia from a repeat, deputy justice minister Ricardo Cappelli told reporters.

"There is no scenario under which the unacceptable events that occurred on the 8th (of January) will be repeated."

Lula appointed Cappelli to command the Brasilia security forces after Sunday's riots.

In scenes strongly reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol, "bolsonaristas" tore paintings and damaged furniture, broke windows and invaded the offices of judges, lawmakers and the presidency itself.

Authorities are working to identify the organizers and financiers of the uprising.

Lula, who met members of Congress in Brasilia on Wednesday, described the protesters as "a group of crazy people who do not understand that the election is over."

On Tuesday, authorities issued arrest warrants for two former senior officials over the riots, including Anderson Torres, who was Bolsonaro's justice minister.

He was fired as Brasilia security chief, along with military police chief Fabio Augusto, after Sunday's scenes.

While Augusto is reportedly already in custody, Torres is expected to arrive in Brazil soon from the United States.

Torres is charged with "omission" of his duties and "collusion" with the protesters.

Torres and Bolsonaro, also in the United States where he this week received medical care, have both denied any involvement in Sunday's events.

Video posted on social media showed some of them filming the violence rather than intervening to halt it.

More than 600 people out of an initial 1,500 detained following the riots remained under arrest Tuesday.

A.AlHaj--SF-PST