BRASILIA – Brazilian police said they arrested a second suspect yesterday over a truck bomb attempt that failed just a week before the inauguration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The first suspect was arrested on Christmas Eve after the truck driver found the device near the airport in the capital Brasilia, where the inauguration happened a week later.
Police said there had been a failed attempt to activate the device.
The first suspect, identified as George Washington de Oliveira Sousa, is a supporter of Brazil’s far-right outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro, and told police he wanted to “prevent the establishment of communism in Brazil” under Lula.
An alleged accomplice, Alan Diego dos Santos Rodrigues, 32, has been wanted ever since, and handed himself over to police yesterday in the state of Mato Grosso.
Police “made contact with people close to the suspect and, after negotiations, this Tuesday (17th), Alan Diego presented himself,” a police statement said.
A third suspect is on the run.
Bolsonaro supporters blocked highways and demonstrated outside army barracks around the country for weeks after Lula’s victory in the October 30 presidential runoff.
The bomb plot prompted record-high security at Lula’s inauguration on January 1, which was followed a week later by violent riots in Brasilia by thousands of Bolsonaro backers who trashed government buildings, clashed with police and beat up reporters. – AFP, January 18, 2023
