b
razilian President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is set to be inaugurated on Sunday, weeks after a close upset victory over ultra-conservative incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in what was the most consequential election in Brazil in decades.
Bolsonaro’s supporters alleged widespread election fraud, leading to sporadic protests and clashes with police since October, which two weeks ago escalated into an attack on the headquarters of the federal police in Brasilia. Fierce protests urging an investigation into alleged election irregularities are still ongoing.
And over the weekend police foiled a bomb plot, reportedly intended to disrupt the Lula inauguration, and which is now driving fears that there could be an attack on the Sunday events in the capital which is expected to have a massive turnout.
The suspect now in custody has been identified as 54-year-old gas station manager George Washington de Oliveira Sousa. He has reportedly confessed to planting explosive devices not far from where Lula is staying.
