Brazil bomb scare shows tension as Lula to take reins

STORY: Military police, firefighters and security agents patrolled the cordoned-off area around the hotel where Lula was staying as an investigation was carried out.

News of the bomb squad being called into action just days before Lula takes office on January 1 underscores the tense atmosphere in Brazil after the most fraught election in a generation.

On Dec. 24, Brasilia police said they had foiled a bomb plot, arresting a man with ties to a group of pro-Bolsonaro election deniers camped outside the army headquarters, who have been urging the military to overturn Lula's victory.

Earlier in December, a group from the encampment tried to invade the federal police headquarters after the arrest of a pro-Bolsonaro indigenous leader for alleged anti-democratic threats.

The political tensions in the capital have prompted Lula's team to beef up security protocols for Sunday's inauguration, according to incoming Justice Minister Flavio Dino on Monday (December 26).