Top national security adviser to Brazil’s Lula resigns

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s top national security adviser resigned on Wednesday, the presidential palace said, amid a scandal related to the aide’s presence during the storming of Government buildings in the capital.

The resignation of General Marcos Goncalves Dias, which the President accepted, followed a report from CNN Brasil that included footage of him walking around the presidential palace while a mob ransacked Government buildings in Brasilia on January 8.

Sources close to the President said there was no doubt that Dias did not support or facilitate the invasion by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro in any way.

Dias was head of presidential security during Lula’s two previous terms.

Although the General’s presence in the area after the invasion was previously known, Lula’s Opposition says the footage indicated that the Government facilitated the invaders’ entry, as it looks to bolster its request for a special committee on the invasion.

This committee would be the Opposition’s main platform to push its version of events, which centres on Lula’s newly-sworn-in Government having colluded with the attacks in Brasilia.

Dias arrived at the presidential palace shortly after it was invaded and stayed there until the arrival of Lula that evening, after the Bolsonaro supporters had already been removed and arrested, the sources said on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

One of the sources said that Dias – who was able to get invaders out the door of the presidency room and lock the armoured windows – managed to do what was possible, alone.

(Excerpt from Reuters)