The sacking of key democratic institutions in Brasilia, Brazil, by supporters of former president Jair Bolsanaro has parallels with the January 6 assault on the US Capitol but was different in one key way: the position of the military.
Ton Molina/AFP via Getty
Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with security forces during an invasion to Planalto Presidential Palace in Brasilia on January 8, 2023.
Thousands of far-right supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on January 8, 2023.
In images similar to those from the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, demonstrators were seen overwhelming and beating police while breaching the security perimeter of the buildings.
It comes weeks after Bolsonaro was ousted in an election that saw the return of leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Conversation asked Rafael Ioris, an expert on Brazilian politics at the University of Denver, to explain the significance of the attack and what could happen next.
Sergio Lima/AFP via GettySupporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro invade the National Congress in Brasilia on January 8, 2023.
What we saw was thousands of hardcore supporters of Bolsonaro – those who share his extreme right-wing agenda – attempting to take matters into their own hands after the recent election.
Even though Bolsonaro wasn’t there in the capital while the attack took place – he was in Florida – I believe he is ultimately responsible for what occurred. While he was in power he encouraged distrust in political institutions, advocating the closure of Congress and attacking the Supreme Court – two of the institutions targeted by demonstrators.
Others were also behind what happened. Protests have been taking place for weeks, and there are big funders of the demonstrations, such as large landowners and business groups who helped pay for the busing in of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters to the capital, Brasilia.
And then there is the role of the military. Leading military figures have been supportive of Bolsonaro’s extreme right agenda for a long time and even recently have displayed outright support for several pro-coup demonstrations unfolding in different parts of the country in the lead-up to the attack.
The lack of security preventing the storming of key institutions in the capital also leads me to ask: Were they negligent, or were they complicit?
Ton Molina/AFP via GettySupporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro destroy a window of the the plenary of the Supreme Court in Brasilia on January 8, 2023.
