In Brazil, a crowd of supporters of the defeated presidential candidate tried to stage a coup: hundreds arrested

The Brazilian authorities took control of the situation in the country's capital, where on the eve of thousands of supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the presidential residence, the Congress building and the Supreme Court, demanding to cancel the results of the presidential election, which Bolsonaro lost. Hundreds of people arrested with the BBC.

Photo: IStock

Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who bypassed Bolsonaro and was on a working trip during the unrest, visited the Planalto presidential palace on Sunday evening to personally assess the extent of the damage.

Civilian police said they had arrested XNUMX protesters on Sunday.

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The Supreme Court suspended the Governor of the Capital Federal District, Ibanez Rosho, accusing him of failing to prevent the riots. Rocha apologized to the country's leadership.

The state of emergency introduced in the capital the day before will last until the end of January.

What happened?

On January 8, thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country's National Congress, despite an attempt by police to stop the crowd with tear gas. In the same way, the buildings of the Supreme Court of Brazil and the presidential palace were taken by storm. The riots continued for several hours.

The riots came about a week after the inauguration of Lula da Silva, whose return to power after a 12-year hiatus came after he defeated Bolsonaro in a runoff election on 30 October.

Bolsonaro's administration had previously said it was cooperating with the transfer of power, but the far-right leader did not openly admit his electoral defeat and left the country for the United States before Lula da Silva's inauguration.

At a press conference, Lula da Silva described the events in Brazil's capital as "barbaric" and said the "lack of security" allowed Bolsonaro's "fascist" supporters to overcome the barriers set up by the armed forces in front of Congress, the Supreme Court and Planalto, reports CNN.

“Like real vandals, they destroy everything they see in front of them,” Lula said. “We believe that security was not ensured properly.” And I want to tell you that all the people who did this will be punished.”

The heads of Latin American countries expressed their anger and support for President Lula. US President Joe Biden also called the assault “outrageous.” Biden said he condemned the “attack on democracy,” while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the “attack on democracy... is unacceptable.”

The UK, China and Turkey are among other countries that have also condemned the rioters.

Around 18:30 local time, law enforcement managed to regain control of all three buildings. The footage in media reports shows how violators are taken out of there in handcuffs.

The first reports that the demonstrators had launched an assault came three hours earlier. Videos circulating on social media showed crowds of people dressed in the colors of the Brazilian flag, symbolizing support for Bolsonaro, running towards government buildings and entering them. Including they ended up in the presidential palace.

?VEJA: Palácio do Planalto nesse momento. Há relatos de que invadiram também a sala do presidente Lula e depredaram o lugar. pic.twitter.com/OPjQsLGOu3

— SHOCKED (@choquei) January 8, 2023

On January 8, a crowd of determined supporters of Bolsonaro headed for the Plaza of the Three Powers in the center of the country's capital, Brasilia. There are the buildings of Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential residence.

The demonstrators broke through the police barriers and managed to enter the parliament building. Some of the windows in the congress building are broken. The participants in the assault also entered the Senate meeting room, where they began to jump on chairs and benches.

The floor of the Congress Building was flooded after the fire suppression system went off as protesters attempted to set fire to the carpet.

Video footage shows protesters inside the building taking gifts received from international delegations and destroying works of art.

Video on social media shows protesters pulling a policeman off his horse and attacking him near a building.

ATENTADOS EM BRASÍLIA: Prédio do STF tem o andar térreo eo plenário complemente destruídos. Servidores da segurança foram ameaçados e documentos oficiais podem ter sido extraviados. Video: George Marques. pic.twitter.com/NAPmiJqvms

- Renato Souza (@reporterenato) January 8, 2023

Protests near government buildings have been going on for more than a day. Their participants call on the army to intervene in the situation and dismiss da Silva.

From the Trump/Far Right playbook, when democracy (ie ordinary people voting even when you make it difficult for them to vote) doesn't go your way, then storm the Parliament/Capitol/Court

This time in Brazil where Bolsonaro's thugs are in actionpic.twitter.com/00zzPVegaC

- nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) January 8, 2023

Police regained control of buildings in the Brazilian capital on January 8 in the evening after many hours of clashes, reports with the BBC.

Police said 300 people had been arrested and officials vowed to track down others involved.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vowed to punish supporters of former leader Jair Bolsonaro after the Congress was stormed.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said the government was looking for information about "terrorist attacks".

"Brazilian Trump"

At the end of October, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, representing the leftist forces, defeated the “Brazilian Trump” Jair Bolsonaro by a small margin and became the country’s president for the third time.

The actions of the demonstrators were reminiscent of January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to prevent the 2020 election attestation and the victory of President Joe Biden over Donald Trump.

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In Brazil, Bolsonaro's opponents, even before the elections, feared that in the event of his defeat, he would also not recognize him, and a civil conflict would break out in the country.

Bolsonaro did not interfere with the transfer of power and promised to uphold the law. But his supporters immediately began blocking roads across the country to protest the results of the vote. Thousands of radical supporters of the former president began to set up tents at military bases across the country, claiming that the election results were rigged and calling on the military to stage a coup.

Bolsonaro himself left the country, settling in Florida.

The new Brazilian authorities hoped that these unrest began to fade. Lula's inauguration in early January was uneventful. However, the shocking events that are now taking place in the center of the capital have shown that these hopes were premature.

"Ravaged Country"

In a speech to members of Congress a week ago, Lula announced that he was getting a devastated country, where famine had returned under Bolsonaro. He accused his predecessor of undermining the government's resources for education, health care and forestry, and undermining basic human rights in the country.

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Lula said Bolsonaro and his administration were responsible for the “genocide of Brazilians” by ignoring the Covid pandemic, which has killed more than 680 thousand people in the country.

Before his rival's inauguration, Bolsonaro flew to Florida, after saying a tearful farewell to his supporters. Before the flight, he posted a video on social networks in which he said that “the battles are lost, but we will not lose the war.”

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