How not to make the link with the invasion, almost two years ago to the day, of the Capitol by hardened Trumpist militants? This Sunday, hundreds of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invaded Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in Brasilia. If President Lula was on the move this Sunday in a city east of Sao Paulo, the images are nevertheless impressive. And the message from the bolsonarists is clear: they do not intend to give up, despite his investiture last week.
What happened ?
The area near the Three Powers Square, where the Presidential Palace of Planalto, the Supreme Court and the Congress meet, had been cordoned off by the authorities, but the Bolsonarists managed to break the security cordons. The police, who seemed completely overwhelmed, tried, in vain, to repel them with tear gas and stun grenades. On some videos, we see the police violently taken to task by the crowd, forced to retreat in the face of unleashed militants. A mounted police officer was unhorsed and then knocked to the ground by assailants armed with sticks.
The first images suggest considerable damage to these buildings, which are treasures of modern architecture and are full of works of art. On the videos circulating on social networks, we can see damaged furniture, broken windows, ransacked offices… According to the CNN channel, demonstrators, for example, set fire to the carpet of a congress hall, which had to be flooded to extinguish the fire. Deputy André Janones accused the demonstrators, whom he describes as “terrorists”, of stealing “computers, tables, chairs and even doors” on Twitter. A local press union also reported the attack on five journalists. Among them, an AFP photographer was beaten and had all his equipment stolen.
Why are these activists doing this?
These activists have never recognized the victory – by a short head – of Lula against Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential election of October. This rampage comes a week after the inauguration of the new Brazilian president and this, in the absence of his predecessor: the far-right leader left Brazil at the end of the year to join the United States, thus fleeing legal troubles. “This absurd attempt to impose the will by force will not prevail,” warned the new Brazilian Minister of Justice Flavo Dino, on Twitter.
This is not the first coup by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro. The day after Lula’s victory, they had blocked part of the highways in eleven states for almost a week. Bolsonarists have also been demonstrating since October 30 in front of military barracks, demanding the intervention of the army to prevent the latter from returning to power for a third term, after those from 2003 to 2010.
How did President Lula react?
The Brazilian president announced this Sunday a “federal intervention” to take control of the security of the capital. Condemning an intervention carried out by “fascist vandals”, he promised, about those responsible, “to find them all”, assuring that they would be “punished”. The deployment of agents of the National Force, a special police force sometimes sent to the various states in the event of a threat to law and order, was authorized.
The Brazilian president can count on the support of the international community. Emmanuel Macron called on Sunday for “respect for democratic institutions” in Brazil and underlined France’s “unwavering support” for President Lula. “The will of the Brazilian people and the democratic institutions must be respected! President Lula can count on the unwavering support of France,” he tweeted.
The President of the European Council Charles Michel expressed on Twitter his “absolute condemnation” of this assault and his “total support for President Lula da Silva, democratically elected by millions of Brazilians after fair and free elections”. The White House also reacted this Sunday: “The United States condemns any attempt to undermine democracy in Brazil. President Biden (from the southern United States where he was on Sunday ahead of a visit to Mexico) is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering,” tweeted White House adviser Jake Sullivan. .