Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday backed Defense Minister José Múcio, following criticism from broad sectors of the Workers’ Party (PT) and government supporters for allegedly underestimating the protests that later erupted in Sunday’s assaults on the presidential, congressional and Supreme Court headquarters in Brasília.
«He will continue to be my minister because I trust him,» confirmed President Lula in a conversation with journalists at the Planalto Palace, one of the places violated by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
«I have the deepest respect for him and he is going to continue. If I had to change ministers every time they make a mistake, it would be the biggest labor turnover in the history of Brazil,» said the Brazilian president.
«We all make mistakes. José Múcio is going to continue», said Lula, who, according to the Brazilian press, has already made known to the Minister of Defense his discomfort for the alleged lack of respect for the protests that finally led to the assault on the headquarters of the three branches of government.
The PT has urged Lula to dismiss Múcio for his alleged connivance with the assailants, recalling how he was in favor of not dismantling by force the Bolsonaro camps from where the attack was conceived and from where they have been calling for a military coup since Bolsonaro’s defeat at the polls last October 30.
In this line, the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, publicly stated that he trusts that the Ministry of Defense will analyze why the Institutional Security Cabinet did not act as it should. «I want to believe that this investigation will take place», he said.
The doubts about Múcio, whose conciliatory role in dealing with the Armed Forces was highlighted, date back to the weeks prior to Lula’s inauguration, when some in the Government were in favor of expelling those who were camped at the gates of the Army headquarters in several capitals of the country.
Múcio insisted that they were «democratic» demonstrations and he could say so «with great authority» since he had «friends and relatives» in those same camps.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
