Opinion: Lula’s ‘political’ arrests begin – Bolsonaro’s former Minister of Justice was apprehended

(Opinion) While returning to the country, Anderson Torres, Alexandre de Moraes‘ main rival, was arrested at Brasilia’s international airport.

Jair Bolsonaro’s former Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, was arrested this Saturday at Brasilia’s international airport, in the first arbitrary arrest linked to the case investigating the protests against Lula, which culminated with the storming of the National Congress and the other state powers last Jan. 8 in Brasilia.

Read also our coverage on this ‘invasion’ which probably was none

In the same way that Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba, Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, or Luis Arce in Bolivia, Lula da Silva begins to arrest opposition leaders with fabricated causes and in collaboration with a Judicial Power wholly taken over by the extreme left.

Torres was in the United States until last Sunday, Secretary of Security of the Federal District Government, when, together with the governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, they were removed from office by decree by Lula.

According to the government, Torres was ultimately responsible for guaranteeing the integrity of the state buildings that were invaded by the demonstrators, which is true.

But failing his task as a public official should not merit an arrest; otherwise, Lula and all his ministers who accompanied him in his previous government should have been in jail many years ago.

The plane where the former minister was transported arrived around 7:30 a.m. at the capital’s airport, where the Federal Police awaited Torres, his lawyers told the press.

His arrest was ordered by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who, in turn, presides over the Electoral Court and manages the Federal Police.

This single person practically holds the sum of public power in Brazil today.

That is why more and more Brazilians and observers say that Lula is just the Brazilian figurehead for the world to admire and that the country’s real power lies in the hands of Alexandre de Moraes, who ensured that Lula became eligible again in the first place after his prison term.

At this point, we recommend watching the video of journalist Paula Schmitt which provides valuable background information for those interested.

The arrest of Torres was for alleged “omission and connivance” during the protests that ended in the break-in at the headquarters of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.

Moraes charged Jair Bolsonaro in the same case.

It is clear that if the former president returns to Brazil, he will be immediately arrested by the dictatorship of Lula and Moraes.

Torres, one of Moraes’ main rivals during Bolsonaro’s government, was planning a legal route to contest the fraudulent election result when the former president decided not to disavow the process and fled to the United States instead to avoid an arrest by Lula’s government.

The Federal Police recently ‘found‘ in Torres’ house a draft of the decree he had presented to Bolsonaro to disavow the result of the elections that consecrated Lula.

Torres himself admitted the existence of the document that “was to be shredded in due course at the ministry” after the former president refused to sign it.

Torres also left for the United States after Lula’s inauguration.

Still, after finishing his leave of absence from the position of Security Secretary of Brasília, a position he had held since 2019 but had left to take over as Bolsonaro’s Minister of Justice in 2021, he returned to duty last Jan. 3.

With information from Derecha Diario