San Francisco Frontiers - 'Democracy won', says Lula two years after Brasilia riots

The 79-year-old made his first notable appearance since undergoing emergency head surgery last month, donning a fedora for the ceremony held on the anniversary of the mob attack by backers of right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro.

"If these works of art are back here, restored with care by men and women who dedicated more than 1,760 hours of their lives to them, it is because democracy won. Otherwise, they would be destroyed forever," said Lula.

"Today is the day to say loud and clear, we are still here," he said, in a nod to Brazilian Oscar hopeful "I'm Still Here", a true story about the country's military dictatorship which on Sunday earned lead actress Fernanda Torres a Golden Globe.

"We are here to say loud and clear, dictatorship never again, democracy always," said Lula.

The 2023 attack on the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court came a week after Lula was inaugurated, with Bolsonaro supporters calling for the military to oust him and claiming the election was stolen.

The Brasilia riots stunned the world with striking echoes of the US Capitol insurrection two years earlier by supporters of Donald Trump.

A total of 21 damaged artworks have been restored and returned to the seats of power in Brazil.

Among the most iconic items restored is the modernist painting "As Mulatas," by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, which had been slashed with knives.

A 17th-century clock crafted by Balthazar Martinot, watchmaker to the French king Louis XIV, was also returned to the presidential collection after being repaired in Switzerland.

Security was tight around Three Powers Plaza, where a man blew himself up in November in front of the Supreme Court in an incident police deemed to be a terrorist act.

- 'An aberration' -

January 8, 2023 "was an extremely sad day for Brazilians," said Shirley Altoe, a teacher and Lula supporter attending the ceremony.

"It was an aberration, something unimaginable. It really hurt my heart. We are here to defend democracy. This must not happen again," she added.

To date, 371 people have been convicted of their involvement in the January 8, 2023 riots in Brasilia, whether as direct participants, financiers, or instigators.

Bolsonaro, who was in the United States that day, is under investigation for his role as an instigator of the riots.

Prosecutors are also weighing whether to charge him for his alleged involvement in a coup plot to prevent Lula from taking office.

Police further alleged that Bolsonaro was "fully aware" of a plot to assassinate Lula.

Bolsonaro has denied the coup allegation and says he is the victim of "persecution."

Bolsonaro's allies have pushed in Congress for an amnesty for those involved in the Brasilia riots.

"No one was or will be unjustly imprisoned. All will pay for the crimes they committed," said Lula, including those who planned his assassination.

Lula returned to the presidential palace this week after his recovery from emergency surgery in December following a brain hemorrhage linked to a fall he had at home in October.

M.Powell--SFF