Police in Brazil have arrested a man they believe attempted to detonate an explosive device in order to “sow chaos” ahead of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s inauguration on January 1.
According to authorities, the man planted the device in a fuel tanker near Brasilia’s airport, but it did not detonate.
Officers were told by the suspect that he devised the scheme with other supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.
Police are looking for his potential co-conspirators.
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The 54-year-old suspect told investigators he came to Brasilia on November 12 to protest outside the army’s headquarters.
For weeks, supporters of President Bolsonaro have been rallying in the city, asking that security forces intervene to prevent his elected successor, Lula da Silva, from assuming office.
Although there is no proof to back up their assertion, these ardent backers of the president of the far-right believe that the presidential election, which Lula narrowly defeated Mr. Bolsonaro in, was rigged.
In the lead-up to the election, Mr. Bolsonaro regularly sowed doubt about Brazil’s electronic voting system, which fueled his followers’ suspicion of the outcome.
The electoral court in Brazil has rejected his claims as unfounded, and his party’s attempt to contest the election results was also turned down, but many of his fans still believe the election was “taken” from him.
Police said the suspect had told them that he and fellow protesters outside the army headquarters had decided “to try to provoke an armed forces intervention” to prevent “communism from taking hold in Brazil”.
They had planned to detonate a number of bombs across the capital to force the army to declare a state of emergency, in the hope of stopping the swearing-in ceremony from taking place.
Brasilia Police Chief Robson Cândido told journalists at a news conference that the group had set off the explosive device it had planted on a fuel truck parked at the city’s airport, but that it had failed to go off.
The device was spotted by the truck’s driver, who alerted police.
Officers managed to track the suspect to an apartment, where he was storing “an arsenal of weapons”, according to Mr Cândido.
Brazil’s justice minister designate, Flávio Dino, said security measures for Lula’s swearing-in on 1 January would be “re-evaluated and reinforced” following the incident.
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