A Capitol Hill-Like Riot in Brazil: Why Bolsonaro’s supporters raided Congress, top court
A Capitol Hill-Like Riot in Brazil: Why Bolsonaro’s supporters raided Congress, top court
He is known as the “Trump of the Tropics”. Now former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters have emulated Donald Trump’s backers. In an incident which has been compared to the 6 January Capitol Hill attack in the United States, the most radical “Bolsonaristas” stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in Brasília on Sunday.
The riot comes a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s leftist rival. The former president’s supporters, who refused to accept his defeat in the election, bypassed security barricades, climbed onto roofs, smashed windows and stormed all three buildings. They were believed to be largely vacant since it was a Sunday.
At least 400 people have been arrested for storming the key government buildings in Brazil’s capital. Hours went by before control of the buildings on Brasilia’s vast Three Powers Square was reestablished, according to a report in The Associated Press (AP).
Why are Bolsonaro supporters unhappy?
Brazil held an acrimonious election in October where Bolsonaro was up against Lula. On 30 October, the leftist leader, who was president between January 2003 and December 2010, returned to power after defeating the incumbent with a narrow margin.
Lula secured 50.9 per cent of the vote while Bolsonaro received 49.10 per cent.
However, the firebrand leftist leader did not concede defeat as his supporters protested blocked highways over the results with some calling for a military coup to stop Lula.
In November, Bolsonaro’s far-right Liberal Party challenged some votes in the election, asking the electoral court to reject ballots from certain voting machines, which it claims were compromised during the second round. While the court rejected this claim, many in Brazil believe that the election was “stolen”.
Supporters of Bolsonaro see him as a “saviour” amid rumours that Lula will diminish religious freedom in Brazil.
What pushed Bolsonaro supporters to riot?
The rioting in Brasilia comes a week after Lula was sworn into office. Bolsonaro skipped last Sunday’s ceremony, telling supporters in a tearful farewell on 30 December that “we will not throw in the towel. We may have lost the battle but not the war”. He flew to the US.
Since Lula’s win, Bolsonaristas have been gathering in front of military barracks not only in Brasília but in many other cities. But after they saw the new president taking the oath, their anger only grew. They believe Lula is a “communist threat to Brazil”, according to a report by the BBC.
The far-right supporters of Bolsonaro felt let down by the military and decided to take matters into their hands, the report says.
How did the riots take place?
According to the BBC, the army headquarters, where the protesters gathered in the capital is eight kilometres away from Three Powers Square, which houses the Congress Supreme Court, and the presidential palace.
It is a long march and experts are now pointing out how security forces did not intervene. Video footage shows that they offered little resistance to protesters.
An army bridge is permanently stationed at the presidential palace. But the rioters managed to storm the building and vandalise it, the BBC reports.
It took three hours to bring the situation under control.
What is Lula saying?
In a news conference from Sao Paulo state, Lula accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising by those he termed “fascist fanatics,” and he read a freshly signed decree for the federal government to take control of security in the federal district, reports AP. He described the events as “barbaric”.
“There is no precedent for what they did and these people need to be punished,” Lula said.
Lula said that there was “incompetence or bad faith″ on the part of police and that they had been likewise complacent when Bolsonaro supporters rioted in the capital weeks ago. He promised those officers would be punished and expelled from the corps.
Lula visited the presidential palace and Supreme Court building after the attack.
What is Bolsonaro saying?
Bolsonaro repudiated the president’s accusation late Sunday. He wrote on Twitter that peaceful protest is part of democracy but vandalism and invasion of public buildings are “exceptions to the rule.”
– Manifestações pacíficas, na forma da lei, fazem parte da democracia. Contudo, depredações e invasões de prédios públicos como ocorridos no dia de hoje, assim como os praticados pela esquerda em 2013 e 2017, fogem à regra.
— Jair M. Bolsonaro 2️⃣2️⃣ (@jairbolsonaro) January 9, 2023
Denouncing the “depredations and invasions of public buildings” in Brasília, he said, “Throughout my mandate, I have always been acting according to the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom.”
Why is the riot being compared to Jan 6 attack?
The incident brought back memories of the 6 January 2021 assault on the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. However, unlike the US, few officials were likely to have been working in the Brazilian Congress and Supreme Court on a Sunday.
Political analysts have warned for months that a similar storming was a possibility in Brazil, given that Bolsonaro has sown doubt about the reliability of the nation's electronic voting system — without any evidence. The results were recognised as legitimate by politicians from across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of foreign governments.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly sparred with Supreme Court justices, and the room where they convene was trashed by the rioters on Sunday. They sprayed fire hoses inside the Congress building and ransacked offices at the presidential palace. Windows were broken in all of the buildings, reports AP.
What has Trump said?
Trump has been silent on the attack so far. However, he had endorsed Bolsonaro last year.
“President Jair Bolsonaro and I have become great friends over the past few years. He fights hard for and loves the people of Brazil… Just like I do for the people of the United States,” Trump said in October. “Brazil is lucky to have a man such as Jair Bolsonaro working for them.”
How have world leaders reacted to the Brazil riot?
US president Joe Biden told reporters that the riots in Brazil were “outrageous.” His national security adviser Jake Sullivan went a step further on Twitter and said the US “condemns any effort to undermine democracy in Brazil.”
Biden later tweeted that he looked forward to continuing to work with Lula, calling the riots an “assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the riots in Brazil and extended support to government authorities, emphasising that “democratic traditions must be respected by everyone”.
“Deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism against the State institutions in Brasilia. Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities,” he tweeted, tagging Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism against the State institutions in Brasilia. Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities. @LulaOficial
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 9, 2023
British foreign secretary James Cleverly tweeted, “The violent attempts to undermine democracy in Brazil are unjustifiable. President @LulaOficial and the government of Brazil have the full support of the UK.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said on Twitter that he condemned the assault on Brazil’s democratic institutions but he was confident “the will of the Brazilian people and the country’s institutions” would be respected.
With inputs from agencies
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