Many draw comparisons to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by supporters of Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally.
Being Sunday, the Congress isABA empty. Only employees responsible for essential services were present at the time of the invasion.
The dramatic scenes came a week after the inauguration of leftist Lula.
In his inauguration speech, the new president promised to rebuild the country from “terrible ruins.” He also harshly criticized the policies of his predecessor, who went to the United States and avoided being present at the change of mandate ceremony.
Bolsonaro repeatedly defended the brutal military dictatorship that ruled the country for more than 20 years.
Many of his followers set up camps in cities across Brazil, some outside military barracks, demanding that the military intervene.
It seemed that his movement had been slowed by Lula’s inauguration: the camps in Brasilia had been dismantled and there were no altercations on the day he was sworn in.
But Sunday’s scenes show those predictions were premature.
Condemnation reactions
The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, communicated on Twitter that he was in contact with the governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha.
“The governor informed me that he is concentrating the efforts of the entire police apparatus to control the situation,” he said.
“I vehemently repudiate these anti-democratic acts., which must urgently submit to the rigor of the law,” Pacheco said.
“This absurd attempt to impose the will by force will not prevail. The Federal District government says there will be reinforcements. And the forces we have are acting,” Justice Minister Flavio Dino said on Twitter.
Leaders from Latin America and elsewhere also joined the condemnations of what happened in Brasilia.
“Reprehensible and undemocratic the coup attempt of the conservatives of Brazil egged on by the oligarchic power dome, their spokesmen and fanatics. Lula is not alone, he has the support of the progressive forces of his country, Mexico, the American continent and the world,” the Mexican president tweeted. Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, he said Brazil has “its full support in the face of this cowardly and vile attack on democracy.”
“We stand with the Brazilian people to defend democracy and not allow the return of the coup ghosts that the right wing promotes #NuncaMás,” tweeted, for his part, the Argentine president, Alberto Fernandez.
“The right has not been able to maintain the pact of nonviolence,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro tweeted, saying that “fascism has decided to carry out a coup.”
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, he also wanted to express his support for Lula and condemned “categorically the assault on the Congress of Brazil and we call for the immediate return to democratic normality.”
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in Portuguese that “the will of the Brazilian people and democratic institutions must be respected” and said Lula can count “on France’s unconditional support.”
U.S. President Joe Biden called the situation in Brazil “outrageous.” U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States condemns any effort to undermine democracy in Brazil.
“President Biden is closely monitoring the situation and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering. Brazil’s democracy will not be shaken by violence,” Sullivan said on Twitter.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter that the United States was joining Lula in calling for an immediate end to the attacks.
The violence brought to mind the invasion of the U.S. Capitol two years ago by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
“I condemn this outrageous assault on the government buildings of #Brasil incited by demagogue Bolsonaro’s reckless disregard for democratic principles,” U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Twitter.
“It’s about more than just Bolsonaro’s defeat”
Analysis by Katy Watson, BBC correspondent in Sao Paulo
It is important to note that it is not aboutOnly the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro is more than that.
Many of his followers I’ve spoken to over the past few months have said that he’s less relevant than he was.
What hardliners want more than anything is for Lula to return to prison, not the presidential palace.
It is his fear of communism and the erroneous view that Lula is a communist that is fueling his anger more than anything.
Jair Bolsonaro was the vehicle of that anger: he was the person who displaced Lula.
But he has been very quiet since he lost (he even flew to Florida to avoid the inauguration), and even he has not been as tough as those who back him.
Some argue that Bolsonaro is irrelevant: only the military can save Brazil.
This is a country where military rule is still very acceptable among a considerable part of the population.
So while in many ways it’s straight out of Trump’s playbook, there are deep Brazilian roots in all of this and a return to the fear of communism during the Cold War.
