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State of emergency in Brazil: Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the government district in the capital.
John HilligEditor News
What exactly happened in Brazil?
A week after the end of the term of office of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (67), radical supporters of the right-wing ex-military stormed the government district in the capital Brasília. They invaded Congress, the Supreme Court and the government seat, Palácio do Planalto, on Sunday.
The radical Bolsonaro supporters, who attacked the government district, do not recognize the election victory of left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (77), who has been in office since the beginning of the year. They wanted to use force to try and reinstate Bolsonaro as president.
Lula, who has been the idol of the Latin American left for years, won the runoff election for the presidency on October 30 by a razor-thin margin over Bolsonaro. Since then, Bolsonaro has not admitted his electoral defeat – and, among other things, refused to attend the handover to Lula.
The police seemed completely taken by surprise. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters quickly tore down the roadblocks and pushed the officials back. Soon they were standing on the roof of the congress waving Brazilian national flags. Shortly thereafter, they also invaded the Supreme Court and the seat of government.
Inside the buildings, the rioters’ hatred of the new left-wing government was evident. They knocked over chairs and desks, smashed windows, damaged works of art and scrawled slogans on the walls. An attacker even took the office door of federal judge Alexandre de Moraes (54), who was particularly hated by Bolosonaro supporters, as a trophy.
Several demonstrators used the sloping lectern in the Senate as a slide, protesters shouted insults at the absent senators.
The damage to the Congress building, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court is considerable. The buildings are considered icons of modern architecture and contain numerous works of art. Photos published on online networks show that a painting by artist Emiliano Cavalcanti (1897-1976) exhibited in the Presidential Palace was damaged and had several holes.
How long did the storm last?
It took hours for the security forces to bring the situation back under control. The military police advanced with cavalry squadrons and armored vehicles to the Square of the Three State Powers in the center of the capital. Special forces use tear gas, helicopters circled over the government district. Around 230 suspects were arrested, as Justice Minister Flavio Dino (54) announced.
Images from the CNN Brasil television channel showed Bolsonaro supporters dressed in yellow and green with their arms behind their backs and accompanied by police officers coming down the ramp of the Planalto presidential palace. A bus with arrested protesters then departed towards a police station.
At the beginning of the riots, however, the police did not cut a good figure. Numerous Bolsonaro supporters have been camping out in front of the armed forces’ headquarters for days. When around 4,000 other supporters of the ex-president arrived in buses in the capital on Saturday and Sunday and moved to the government district, they were even escorted by officials. Police officers took selfies with the demonstrators and filmed cellphone videos, as seen on television.
Was that the first action by Bolsonaro supporters?
no Since Lula won the election, there has been fierce resistance among Bolsonaro’s supporters. After his election defeat, they had already demonstrated in front of military barracks and blocked main traffic arteries. They called for the army to intervene to prevent Lula’s third term in office. The left-wing politician was head of state from 2003 to 2010.
Police use water cannons Bolsonaro supporters demonstrate against Lula election(01:55)
How did Bolsonaro react to his supporters’ actions?
“Looting and entering public buildings, as happened today,” violates the “rules for peaceful demonstrations,” Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter hours after the riots began. However, he himself is defending himself against the “unproven allegations” of the current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro wrote. Lula had accused Bolsonaro of “encouraging” the attackers.
Bolsonaro’s party also condemned the attacks. «Today is a sad day for the Brazilian nation. We cannot agree to the storming of the National Congress,” said Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) leader Valdemar Costa Neto (73) in a video. «All organized demonstrations are legitimate. But chaos has never been a principle of our nation. We strongly condemn this behavior. The law must be enforced to strengthen our democracy.”
What does Lula say about the storm?
President Lula, who was in the southeastern city of Araraquara, which was devastated by floods in 2022, at the time of the attack, called the attack “unprecedented in Brazilian history.” The donors behind the protests would pay for the “irresponsible and undemocratic acts”. He called the attackers “fascist vandals”.
What are the consequences now?
Brasília’s security chief, Anderson Torres (47), was Minister of Justice under Bolsonaro and is considered a follower of the ex-president. He was released on Sunday. Lula placed public safety in the capital under federal supervision by decree. Former head of state Bolsonaro apparently still has many sympathizers in the police force. In any case, when the mob stormed the government district, only a few officials opposed it.
How did other countries react?
The incidents in Brasília caused outrage internationally. The scenes in the Brazilian capital are reminiscent of the riots at the seat of the US Congress in Washington on January 6, 2021. At that time, supporters of Donald Trump (76) stormed the Capitol, where the Republican’s election defeat against Joe Biden was to be authenticated. The crowd violently entered the building, five people died.
US President Joe Biden (80) called the attack on Sunday “outrageous”. “Our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering,” said its national security adviser Jake Sullivan (46).
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell (75) also backed Lula’s new government. “The EU condemns the anti-democratic acts of violence that took place in the heart of the government district of Brasília on Sunday 8 January,” Borrell said on Sunday evening. “Brazilian democracy will triumph over violence and extremism,” it said.
The German Development Secretary Niels Annen (49) tweeted in English that it was “incredible to see the attack by fascists on the Brazilian capital”. The international community will rally behind President Lula and the “democratic institutions of Brazil”. French President Emmanuel Macron (45) and the heads of state of Mexico and Argentina, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (69) and Alberto Fernandez (63), also expressed harsh words of condemnation.