After thousands of supporters of the ousted right-wing former president, Jair Bolsonaro, invaded the Plaza of the Three Powers \u2013 the heart of government in the country\u2019s capital \u2013 on Sunday, 8 January, rushing into the presidential Planalto palace as well as the national congress and federal supreme court buildings, world leaders also condemned the riots.<\/p>\n
Joe Biden says the situation in Brazil is \u2018outrageous\u2019.\u00a0 “I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil\u2019s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined,\u201d Biden said on Twitter.\u00a0 Other world leaders also echoed his statement.<\/p>\n
Chile\u2019s president, Gabriel Boric, called the storming of Brazil\u2019s institutions a \u201ccowardly and vile attack on democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India said: \u201cDeeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism against the State institutions in Brasilia. Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities. @LulaOficial.\u201d\u00a0 India is the world’s largest democracy.<\/p>\n
Colombia\u2019s president, Gustavo Petro, said: \u201cFascism has decided to stage a coup \u2026 It is urgent for the OAS [Organization of American States] to meet if it wants to continue to live as an institution.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Argentinian president, Alberto Fern\u00e1ndez, tweeted that he committed his country\u2019s \u201cunconditional support for @LulaOficial in the face of this attempted coup he is facing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Venezuela\u2019s president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, said he rejected \u201cthe violence generated by Bolsonaro\u2019s neo-fascist groups which have assaulted Brazil\u2019s democratic institutions. Our support for @LulaOficial and the Brazilian people who will surely mobilize in defense of peace and their president.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UN secretary general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, called Brazil \u201ca great democratic country\u201d and said he was confident the \u201cwill of the Brazilian people and the country\u2019s institutions\u201d would be respected.<\/p>\n
The European Council president, Charles Michel, said Lula had been \u201cdemocratically elected by millions of Brazilians through fair and free elections\u201d, and condemned \u201cthe assault on the democratic institutions of Brazil\u201d.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron said Lula could count on his country\u2019s \u201cunwavering support\u201d and that the \u201cwill of the Brazilian people and the democratic institutions must be respected\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Australian government said it \u201ccondemns the attack on Brazil\u2019s congress, supreme court and presidential palace\u201d, which a department of foreign affairs and trade spokesperson said was \u201cunacceptable; democratic institutions and processes must be respected\u201d.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, also offered Lula his full support, adding: \u201cWe categorically condemn the assault on the congress of Brazil and call for an immediate return to democratic normality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said the scenes from Brazil were \u201cincompatible with any form of democratic dissent\u201d.<\/p>\n
Portugal\u2019s foreign minister, Jo\u00e3o Gomes Cravinho, claimed much of the responsibility rested with Bolsonaro and said \u201cit would be very important if he had a message of condemnation in the face of the disorder that is currently happening in Bras\u00edlia\u201d.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch blamed the attack on a \u201cyears-long campaign by former president Jair Bolsonaro and his allies to undermine democratic principles and spread baseless claims of electoral fraud\u201d. The organization released a statement calling the storming \u201can abhorrent attack on Brazil\u2019s democratic institutions by people who are seeking to deny the right of Brazilians to vote for and elect the leaders of their choice, including by urging military intervention\u201d<\/p>\n
Policemen and journalists covering the riot were injured and weapons were stolen from the presidential security office. The bill for damage to public buildings, works of art and colonial-era furniture is likely to run into millions of reals.<\/p>\n
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said on Tuesday the country must firmly combat “terrorism” and “anti-democratic people attempting a coup” after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brasilia earlier this week.<\/p>\n
“Democracy will prevail and Brazilian institutions will not bend,” said Moraes, who leads a probe into anti-democratic protests that have already yielded several arrests.\u00a0 While hundreds of rioters have already been arrested, the state governor of the federal district has been suspended for his sluggish and ineffective response.<\/p>\n
The rioting was seen as similar to the storming of the US capitol in 2021. Academics, judges, journalists, and politicians had all warned about its possibility.<\/p>\n
This occurred because most of Bolsonaro\u2019s supporters had not accepted the result of last October\u2019s election and were openly discussing an attempt to seize back power. The US Capitol attack was constantly held up as a warning saga.<\/p>\n
The riots had varying degrees of support from various sections of Brazil\u2019s political right wing. This included businessmen, landowners, some of the media, and \u2013 in the most striking difference to the US \u2013 members of the armed forces and police.<\/p>\n
Units of the army appear to have been involved. For months, anti-democratic groups have been allowed to set up camps around army barracks, which, on some occasions, have even defended the protesters against the intervention of state and municipal security forces.<\/p>\n
The army should also have been responsible for protecting the presidential palace but was not deployed on Sunday until the rioters had already invaded the complex.<\/p>\n
The military police too, who are responsible for patrolling assigned areas, also appear to have been supportive of the rioters. Police officers were seen taking pictures with rioters and there were reports that the military police even escorted some of them to the Plaza of the Three Powers.<\/p>\n
Some media organizations, journalists, and commentators have been accused and encouraged of defending the anti-democratic riot, notoriously the right-wing Jovem Pan and some of its contributors. But most journalists have been inflexible in their support for democracy and the rule of law.<\/p>\n