Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday stormed Congress, the supreme court and the presidential palace in the first crisis of new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. They demanded the left-wing veteran to resign and called on the military to launch a coup.
Who are the protesters?
Bolsonaro’s populist movement has long relied on radical supporters and massive mobilizations for rallies and events. He was the mainstay of the presidency between 2019 and last year and also faced a lot of protests after narrowly losing to Lula in the October election.
In the days after the vote, scores of pro-Bolsonaro trucks blocked highways across the country, quickly causing supply chain problems and at one point forcing the closure of Brazil’s main international airport. These hardline supporters are nationalists, social conservatives and often evangelical Christians. They accused Lula and the Workers’ Party of being corrupt and against family values, claiming the left wanted to implant socialism in Brazil.
What do they believe?
More than a year before the election, Bolsonaro has cast doubt on the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting machines, without providing any credible evidence for his claims. The electoral authorities have repeatedly demonstrated the integrity of the system and the elections are considered fair and transparent by international observers.
Although Bolsonaro was careful not to openly question the results of the election in the days after the election, his supporters claimed – without evidence – that the ballots were stolen. He also accused top judges of showing political bias in favor of Lula and labeled a crackdown on social media misinformation as censorship. Since the election, hundreds have camped outside military bases across the country, demanding the armed forces intervene to stop Lula’s presidency.
“The armed forces must step in and put Bolsonaro back in charge of the country and continue his good work,” said Alexandra Morais, a woman in her 60s, at a demonstration outside an army barracks in the city of Belo Horizonte last year. “Seventy to 80 percent of Brazilians want this, but the election was rigged.”
Despite a tense build-up ahead of Lula’s inauguration, including the discovery of an alleged bomb in Brasília, some protested at last week’s swearing-in ceremony.
While there is a direct similarity between Sunday’s event and the January 6 invasion of the US Capitol in 2021, the rioters in DC aimed to prevent the certification of Joe Biden as the American president, while Lula has been confirmed as the head of state of his country for a week. previous. Brasília’s Congress was not in session and the supreme court and presidential palace were uninhabited when they were attacked.
But although Sunday’s attack had no practical purpose, it struck a symbolic blow at the heart of political power in Latin America’s largest country and the seat of the three branches of government – legislative, judicial and executive.
What did Bolsonaro say?
Two days after the election defeat, Bolsonaro remained silent. Then in a brief statement, he offered tacit support to radical protesters who blocked highways and gathered outside army bases. “Today’s popular movement is the result of anger and a sense of injustice in the electoral process,” Bolsonaro said at the time.
In the closing months of his presidency, he allowed protesters to continue occupying areas outside military bases, even as he called for military intervention to prevent Lula’s inauguration.
While Bolsonaro himself has not publicly disputed the election results, his political party launched a legal challenge to overturn the results, but was quickly rejected by the courts. A former conservative army captain condemned the alleged bomb plot in Brasília that police discovered a week before Lula’s inauguration ceremony.
But in an indication of the hatred between Lula and Bolsonaro, the right-wing populist broke with tradition by refusing to participate in the oath to hand over the presidential belt. Instead, he went to Florida, where last week he was spotted eating fast food.
Bolsonaro took to Twitter on Sunday evening to condemn the actions of hard-line extremists.
“Peaceful demonstrations, according to the law, are part of democracy. However, vandalism and invasion of public buildings like what happened today, as well as what the left did in 2013 and 2017, cross the line,” he wrote.
The ultra-conservative populist also rejected Lula’s accusations that he supported the attack.
Even so, Bolsonaro may face criticism from his opponents for creating an atmosphere of polarization and antagonism towards Brazilian institutions, especially the supreme court.
After Sunday’s event, many also criticized the governor of Brasília, Ibaneis Rocha, and the security secretary, Anderson Torres. Both are considered to be close to the former president and have appeared to be very fond of their supporters. On Sunday night, Reuters reported that Brazil’s attorney general had requested Torres’ arrest.
What is happening now?
Lula took power vowing to unite the country after divisive elections. The attack could prompt him to take a tougher stance on right-wing extremism. Visibly shaken, the president on Sunday called the protesters “vandals and fascists” who “must be punished”. Flavio Dino, Brazil’s new Minister of Justice, was eager to destroy even before the attack on Congress. He is likely to push for prosecutions and programs to stamp out extremism.