Brazil continues to reel after hundreds of supporters of the country’s former leader Jair Bolsanaro stormed the seats of power in the capital Brasilia. The situation in Brazil’s capital bears striking resemblance to the insurrection two years ago at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
More than 1,500 people have been arrested since the rioting began Sunday. The breaches came a week after the inauguration of Lula da Silva. da Silva returned to power after a 12-year hiatus following a victory over Jair Bolsonaro in a run-off election in October.
The attack was similar to the Jan 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol when supporters of former Pres. Trump stormed Congress in an effort to prevent the certification of his election defeat. Trump and Bolsonaro were close allies. Political analysts say what’s happening shows that antidemocratic revolutions can be contagious.
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“I think Bolsonaro supporters showed they were definitely watching what happened at the U.S. Capitol,” said Andrew Januz, a poitical science professor at the University of Florida. Januz has written extensively about Brazil’s politics. “We saw his supporters turn out, challenge the elections, state there was widespread fraud as well as draw similarities to Donald Trump saying the election was stolen,” Januz said.
There is a pattern here. After losing Bolsonaro refused to attend his successor’s inauguration. He came to, of all places, Florida. He and his followers are pursuing fictional claims in lawsuits in Brazilian courts. And they staged their uprising on of all dates – Jan 8th – almost exactly 2 years after the assault on the U.S. Capitol.
“There are definitely a number of similarities,” asserted Januz. “One important difference is that these supporters of Bolsonaro were trying to cause chaos not to forestall the inauguration of Bolsonaro’s successor, but rather to force the hand of Brazil’s military and compel them to take power.”
“One encouraging sign is that the military didn’t come out and support this coup attempt,” Januz said. “They came in and restored power and Lula (da Silva) has been able to reach out to politicians, both to the right and the left and ensure that they are committed to Brazil’s democracy,” Januz said.
Januz goes on to say the United States should intervene to the point that it is made clear the U.S. “stands on the side of democracy and that any democratic interruptions are not permissible.”
And, Januz said, (the United States) “should make it clear they stand on the side of free and fair elections.”