Brazil’s Congress, the presidential palace and the supreme court are being invaded by supporters of Brazil’s former far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro as we publish this morning, just days since the legitimately elected leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) was inaugurated.
President Lula has blamed his predecessor for the attacks, describing those who’ve breached security barriers and are currently ransacking offices as “fascists” and “fanatics”.
“These vandals, who we could call fanatical Nazis, fanatical Stalinists… fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country,” he said. He has promised to visit all three of the institutions that were attacked today.
The insurrectionists have been heard declaring “this is our house”, while stealing various artifacts and ripping off doors, climbing roofs, ransacking the offices of parliamentarians and breaking windows. The attacks come after Bolsonaro – echoing former US President Donald Trump – called on supporters to storm the Supreme Court a few months ago. The scenes of people wearing yellow and green, carrying flags and filming themselves looking around the three democratic institutions look eerily familiar to those that we saw from Capitol Hill two years ago, during the January 6 2021 insurrection.
Bolsonaro is now in Florida, with some members of US Congress urging him to be extradited to Brazil. He has been described as “Trump of the tropics” in the past.
Bolsonaro has so far not condemned the situation as it continues to unfold in Brazil.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declared that, “The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida,” and compared the protests to the 6 January US Capitol insurrection. “Nearly two years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil.”
Like in the US two years ago, many of Bolsonaro’s supporters refuse to believe the result of the country’s 2022 election, believing it to be fraudulent.
Lula has declared a “federal intervention” in the security of the Federal district until the end of January, as well as accountability for those involved.