Brazil’s govt to support congressional inquiry into Jan. 8 riots

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha said on Thursday the government will support a congressional inquiry into the Jan. 8 anti-democratic riots, in which supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings.

That represents a change of stance by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Siva’s administration, which so far had been opposing the inquiry to avoid shifting political focus away from its economic measures.

Padilha told reporters the government would now support the inquiry as a way to clear things up after Lula’s top national security adviser, General Marcos Goncalves Dias, resigned amid a scandal related to the aide’s presence during the storming of government buildings in the capital.

Dias’s resignation, which the president accepted, followed a report from CNN Brasil that included footage of him walking around the presidential palace while a mob ransacked the palace, Congress and Supreme Court buildings in Brasilia.

Lula’s opposition has been pushing for the congressional investigation, saying the footage indicated that the government facilitated the invaders’ entry.

“That’s an absurd conspiracy theory,” Padilha said. “The leaked footage brought in a new political fact so we will support the inquiry, which in my opinion will put an end to yet another conspiracy theory”.

In addition to a potential congressional inquiry, Brazil’s federal police have also been investigating the riots, having carried out dozens of raids as part of an operation to identify people who participated in, funded or fostered the riots.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; editing by Steven Grattan)