Brazil: Lula dismisses and replaces the head of the army after the assault on Brasilia

Brazilian President Lula congratulates General Tomas Miguel Ribeiro Paiva on his new post as army chief in Brasilia, January 21, 2023. © Ricardo Stuckert/Handout via REUTERS

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1 min

The purge within the Brazilian military continues two weeks after a coup attempt by supporters of former President Bolsonaro.

Lula has just sacked the head of the army.

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With our correspondent in Sao Paulo,

General Julio César de Arruda, who was appointed during the transition period between Jair Bolsonaro and Lula, is no longer the army chief of staff.

He has just been sacked by President Lula, who had repeatedly complained about the attitude of certain soldiers during the attack on places of power in Brasilia on January 8.

He was replaced by General Tomás Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, Commander of the Southeast Region.

An officer who publicly defended democracy and the legitimacy of elections, challenged precisely by the far-right former president.

General Ribeiro Paiva, who began his military career in 1975, notably participated in the Brazilian army mission in Haiti, commanded the presidential guard battalion and worked as an auxiliary to the presidency in Brasilia under the mandate of Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Fracture

The Minister of Defense, José Múcio, who played the conciliation card, now evokes a fracture and a crisis of confidence between the army and the power.

More than a thousand people were arrested after the January 8 riots.

Lula has already dismissed 50 soldiers in the past few days, and seems determined to act firmly to regain control of matters.

►Also read: Assault on Brasilia: Bolsonaro under investigation, his former Minister of Justice arrested

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• Brazil

• Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

• Jair Bolsonaro

• Defense