Brazil: Lula dismisses his army chief two weeks after the riots

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is convinced that soldiers supported or even helped rioters to take over places of power in the capital on January 8.

So he rages.

He started by kicking out no less than 40 soldiers from the presidential residence.

And the purge carried out in the army continues.

Lula sacked the head of the army, Julio César de Arruda, this Saturday, two weeks after the attacks against centers of power in Brasilia, announce several local media.

Julio César de Arruda assumed this function on an interim basis since December 30, two days before the end of the mandate of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, and had been confirmed there at the beginning of January by the new administration of Lula.

He will be replaced by the southeast military commander, Tomas Ribeiro Paiva, according to GloboNews.

Tomas Ribeiro Paiva said in a public speech on Wednesday that the army would continue "to guarantee democracy".

“It is the regime of the people, of alternation in power.

It's the vote.

And when we vote, we have to respect the outcome of the polls,” he said, according to a video posted by the G1 news site.

No "direct military involvement"

Julio César de Arruda had participated Friday in Lula's first meeting with the military leaders, at the end of which none had made a statement.

The military leaders "accept" that sanctions be taken against the members of the armed forces involved in the riots, however, said at the end of this meeting the Minister of Defense, José Mucio, stressing however that the participants in the meeting did not hadn't really mentioned the riots.

The minister had also argued that there had been no "direct involvement" of the army in the riots in Brasilia.

The relationship with the armed forces is one of Lula's biggest immediate challenges, according to analysts who point to the significant military presence in the previous administration.

The left-wing leader has begun a "deep overhaul" in the military apparatus serving the executive after expressing his mistrust of certain members responsible for his security.

A total of 53 of them were dismissed this week, thirteen of whom were part of the Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI), a government body responsible for assisting the Head of State in his national security and defense policy.

More than 4,000 supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro wreaked havoc in Brasilia on January 8, storming and ransacking the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court.