The three wings of Brazilian Government were attacked on Sunday by supporters of the defeated far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, breaking into the Congress, Presidential Palace, and Supreme Court buildings in the capital to cause havoc and damage property.
In an attack reminiscent of the January 6th attack in Washington DC, the right-wing mob had gathered to voice their fierce opposition to new President Luis Ignacio Lula de Silva’s election win, with most believing that the election was rigged. There has been no substantiated evidence for these claims.
This riot differs from the January 6th attack in a number of ways, however; firstly, the rioters were not seeking to obstruct any political processes as Lula had already been sworn in as President.
Secondly, the majority weren’t motivated by the fact Bolsonaro lost the election, more so that Lula won, who they see as belonging in prison, not in the Presidential Palace. Lula was detained on what are widely regarded as trumped-up corruption charges in 2017. He was released early in 2021 after the Supreme Court found he was unlawfully charged.
Thirdly, the protesters carried out the riot without the direct influence or coercion from their preferred President, as Bolsonaro had travelled to Florida in the US some days beforehand.
However, those who took part are perpetrating conspiracy theories around the legitimacy of the election in much the same way as Trumpists in the US have; Bolsonaro called the transparency and effectiveness of electronic voting machines used in Brazil into question years before the election took place, just as Lula’s campaign was picking up steam, and his supporters have used this to claim the election was rigged and illegitimate as a result, much the same as in the US.
Police present at the Government complex in Brasilia were quickly overwhelmed buy the sheer number of protestors, allowing the mob to smash windows to gain access to buildings, destroying furniture, computers, and works of art kept within.
A few hours after the rioters gained access to the buildings, Brazilian police and military had formed a greater presence at the complex, and soon after, used tear gas to disperse the mob, making over 1,200 arrests.
There have been no casualties recorded thus far, but 70 people are said to have been injured during the riot.
Bolsonaro has since tweeted that the action taken by his supporters were inappropriate, and that freedom of speech did not extend to destruction of property, effectively signalling his opposition to the riot. He has still not admitted defeat against Lula, but is doing all he can to distance himself from the events in Brasilia.
Since before the election, it has been predicted that something like this could happen should Bolsonaro lose. It is clear now that January 6th has set a precedent that Governments with fanatical right-wing support have the capability to cause public unrest in the event of an election loss, casting peaceful power transition processes across the globe into jeopardy.
The response from Brazilian authorities was far swifter and more effective than that of American authorities in Washington, and so a wider coup plot seems unlikely. However, the ability of right-wing activists to foment violence after unsatisfactory election results is a symptom of the wider wave of right-wing populism sweeping democracies at present.
The election of Lula (providing he is not involved in any more serious scandals) will lead to a more peaceful political environment in Brazil, as well as a better reputation for Brazil on the world stage, a low bar to clear after the almost universal disapproval of Bolsonaro’s tenure.
There must be no doubt that free, fair elections are just that and will remain as such globally if trust in democratic institutions is to remain strong. That trust has been undermined repeatedly for the past few years as right-wing populist governments gain more widespread attention, and there is serious risk of a breakdown in that trust if these trends are left unaddressed.
stay safe
/e