Key Takeaways:
- Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have organized violent protests in the national capital
- The rioters stormed the country's Congress to protest against incumbent president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
- The incident has been linked to the storming of US Capitol by the supporters of Donald Trump in 2021
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Thousands of supporters of former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s Congress, Supreme Court, and Presidential offices in the capital Brasilia on January 8. The political chaos that ensued comes barely a week after incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office.
Following the Presidential elections in Brazil in October 2022, Lula defeated sitting President Jair Bolsonaro to clinch a third term as President of the country. As a member of the Worker’s Party, he has previously served two terms as the country’s president between 2003-2011.
His election marks the first time that anyone has won a third term. Moreover, he has now become the first candidate to defeat a sitting president in a general election. At 77, he has become the oldest elected President in Brazil.
Bolsonaro’s narrow loss (he received 49.10% against Lula’s 50.90%) has not gone down well with his supporters. Thousands of far-right extremists are now creating havoc in Brasília, the national capital.
The unconventional attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government in Brazil has reminded political commentators of the storming of the US Capitol Hill two years back.
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Brazil Protests remind of the storming of the US Capitol Hill
On January 6, 2021, a group of supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump attacked the seat of the United States Congress while it was in session. The mob had come to prevent the lawmakers from certifying the result of the 2020 presidential elections during which Trump had lost to incumbent President Joe Biden.
While the Democratic party denounced it as an attempted coup d’état, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) termed it an act of domestic terrorism. The House of Representatives (the lower house of the US Congress) impeached President Trump for instigating violence. As CoinChapter reported, Twitter had also banned Trump for his explicit support to the rioters.
Bolsonaro supporters also stormed the country’s Supreme Court smashing everything that came on their way. In the National Assembly, they broke tables, chairs, and windows in a coordinated attack on the nation’s democracy.
The latest attack comes as no surprise. Since the end of October, when the election results were declared, right-wingers have clashed with police on several occasions. Following a successful online campaign, Bolsonaro’s supporters gathered at Brasilia’s Praça dos Três Poderes, or Three Powers Square, and forced themselves into the buildings.
Lula, who was out of the capital at the time of the attack, condemned the attack. He further vowed to hold those responsible accountable.
“We will find out who these vandals are, and they will be brought down with the full force of the law,”
Lula announced.
Acting President of the Senate Veneziano Vital do Rego, President of the Chamber of Deputies Arthur Lira, and President of the Supreme Court Rosa Weber have also condemned the incident.
