World leaders condemn anti-government mob attacks
US President Joe Biden slammed attacks by supporters of expresident Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil as “outrageous,” as condemnation poured in from around the world against mobs that smashed their way into the halls of power in Brasília.
Biden issued his oneword verdict to reporters before later tweeting to assure his support to Brazil’s new leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after probolsonaro rioters broke into Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in Brasília to protest the far-right incumbent’s loss of power.
“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support, and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined. I look forward to continuing to work with @Lulaoficial,” the US president wrote.
South American leaders in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela deplored the mob action, and French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his support for Lula, the leftist who took office as Brazil’s new president a week ago.
“The will of the Brazilian people and the democratic institutions must be respected!” Macron tweeted.
The European Union’s top foreign affairs official, Josep Borrell, tweeted that he was “appalled by the acts of violence and illegal occupation of Brasília’s government quarter by violent extremists today...
“Brazilian democracy will prevail over violence and extremism,” he added.
The attack “cannot leave us indifferent,” tweeted Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Such an attack on government offices is “unacceptable and incompatible with any form of democratic dissent,” the farright leader continued, calling for a “return to normalcy.”
Across the Americas, reaction was particularly swift from leaders ideologically akin to Lula.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador tweeted: “Lula is not alone, he has the support of the progressive forces of his country, of Mexico, of the Americas and of the world.”
Chilean President Gabriel Boric decried “this cowardly and vile attack on democracy” and said the Lula government has Chile’s “complete backing.”
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a leftist authoritarian, condemned what he called the “neofascist groups” seeking to unseat Lula.
Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-canel offered solidarity and condemned what he described as anti-democratic acts aimed at “generating chaos and disrespecting the popular will.”
Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta said the events showed that Latin America faces a challenge of “defending our democracies by preventing the triumph of hate speech… fratricidal violence and anti-democratic actions.”