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As the Brazilian capital of Brasilia braces for political unrest ahead of this week’s inauguration of progressive President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, city authorities arrested a man on Saturday who planted an explosive device nearby in a tanker trunk, CNN reported.
Brasilia police said at a press conference Sunday that they made the arrest after a bomb squad investigated the truck where it was parked near Brasilia International Airport, claiming that the 54-year-old suspect had tried unsuccessfully to detonate the device. A subsequent search of an apartment the man had rented in the city recovered numerous firearms, they said, along with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition and additional explosive devices.
The suspect had apparently traveled to Brasilia to join election-denying demonstrators ahead of the Jan.1 inauguration in support of current right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. Protesters have formed encampments by military bases and are calling for the army to override the election results and reinstate Bolsonaro, who has still not conceded to Lula, the former president and winner of an Oct. 30 runoff election.