Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Brazil marks year since uprising
Events tout democracy, condemn effort to install Bolsonaro
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil on Monday observed the anniversary of last year’s uprising in the capital when thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded government buildings and called for a military intervention to remove President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from office.
Several demonstrations in defense of democracy were taking place across the South American country, hours after Federal Police carried out dozens of search warrants as part of its ongoing investigation targeting those responsible for the mayhem.
Bolsonaro faces a ban from running for office.
On Sunday night in the capital, Brasilia, the words “Democracy Unites Us” were projected on Congress’ annex buildings that tower behind its chambers.
The Supreme Court inaugurated an exhibition about “reconstruction, memory and democracy” displaying damaged pieces and other tangible traces of the attack, and Congress hosted another pro-democracy event, where officials were unveiling a tapestry by renowned artist Roberto Burle Marx that was damaged by rioters and painstakingly restored. The latter was attended by roughly 500 guests, including Lula, members of his Cabinet, Supreme Court justices, Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco and top military brass.
“Thousands of seemingly ordinary people were inflated by falsehoods, conspiracy theories and resentment,” Supreme Court president Luís Roberto Barroso said. “They were transformed into criminals, apprentice terrorists … A sad defeat of the spirit.”
While street demonstrations were expected to kick off in the afternoon on the streets of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, there is little sign of opposing protests defending those who rioted and have faced prosecution.
On Jan. 8, 2023, Latin America’s largest country teetered on the brink of democratic meltdown when pro-Bolsonaro rioters bypassed security barricades around the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court, climbed onto roofs, smashed windows, urinated on precious art and damaged historic Brazilian memorabilia.
The scenes, broadcast live on television, recalled those seen during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and drew instant parallels.
A year on, Brazil has striven to move on from what Supreme Court president Luís Roberto Barroso called in an op-ed published Monday by newspaper Folha de S.Paulo “the most virulent attack on the country’s institutions” since the end of the military dictatorship nearly four decades ago.
Brazil’s judiciary has already sidelined Bolsonaro. Last year, the nation’s electoral court barred him from running for office again until 2030. The case was unrelated to the riots, but rather pertained to his repeated, unfounded claims that the electronic voting system was susceptible to fraud.
“When someone raises doubts about democracy in Brazil, it’s important that you are not afraid of using my story and that of my party,” Lula told the crowd gathered in the Senate, rebuffing Bolsonaro’s claims that electronic voting machines were prone to fraud. “No one here has run in as many elections as I have, has lost as many times as I did and has won as many times as I did.”
Lula, who is currently serving his third nonconsecutive presidential term, ran his first campaign in 1989 but didn’t win until 2002.
Most Brazilians seem to be rallying around the banner of democracy promoted by Lula since he assumed office on Jan. 1, 2023. A December survey by pollster Quaest found that 89% of Brazilians surveyed viewed last year’s uprising negatively.
There also have been attempts at accountability in the U.S. About 1,200 people have been charged over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, and former President Donald J. Trump faces federal and state charges for seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. He has been barred from the ballot in two states in a matter that will now go before the U.S. Supreme Court.