Authorities in Brazil promised on Monday to defend democracy and punish the hundreds of Jair Bolsonaro supporters who stormed and vandalized the nation’s most important buildings in an uprising that bore a remarkable resemblance to the one that occurred in the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
On Sunday, demonstrators descended onto the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the White House.
Many people have stated that they want the Brazilian army to remove newly-elected leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and install far-right Bolsonaro.
According to Justice Minister Flávio Dino, the actions were terroristic and coup-instigating, and police have started looking for those who funded the buses that carried demonstrators to the capital.
The buildings will be examined for evidence, such as fingerprints and photos, to hold people accountable, the Brazilian minister of institutional relations said in a news conference late Sunday.
He also said it appeared the rioters meant to start similar unrest across the country.
“They won’t be able to overthrow Brazilian democracy. Dino responded, “We must state that completely, firmly, and with all our conviction. “We won’t consent to the criminalization of political conflict in Brazil. A criminal is dealt with accordingly.
On Sunday, rioters carrying the national flag’s green and yellow smashed windows, overturned furniture and threw laptops and printers to the ground.
They tore a door off one justice’s office, punctured a large Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting in five places, turned the justices’ U-shaped table upside down, and damaged a well-known statue outside the court.
The interiors of the significant structures were left in a state of decay.
More than 1,200 people have been detained thus far, according to the press office for the justice ministry on Monday.
However, despite the arrival of over 100 buses, police were significantly reluctant to respond, leaving many to wonder if the authorities had disregarded repeated warnings, grossly overestimated the protesters’ strength, or were somehow involved.
According to public prosecutors in the capital, local security forces had, at the very least, been careless.
A justice of the supreme court momentarily suspended the regional governor.
Another judge criticized the government for failing to act quickly to suppress Brazil’s emerging neofascism.
Bolsonaro has been fanning the assumption among his ardent fans that the electronic voting system was susceptible to fraud since his Oct. 30 electoral defeat, even though he never provided any proof.
Bolsonaro has since moved to Florida. Former American officials met with his legislator son Eduardo Bolsonaro multiple times.
President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, a longstanding ally of Trump’s, and Jason Miller, a key member of his campaign team.
Numerous countries and officials from all political parties, including some Bolsonaro sympathizers, swiftly accepted the results of Brazil’s election, which was the closest in more than three decades.
Bolsonaro then abruptly vanished from view, shocking almost everyone.
He refused to accept defeat or vehemently denounce fraud, even though he and his party filed a request to invalidate millions of ballots, which was quickly rejected.
Since 1996, Brazil has employed electronic voting, which security experts deem less secure than hand-marked paper ballots since they do not leave a paper trail that can be checked.
However, the Brazilian system is constantly monitored, and neither domestic authorities nor outside observers have yet discovered proof that it has been used fraudulently.
Bolsonaro’s supporters, however, refused to recognize the verdict.
They demanded that the armed forces act by blocking roadways and remaining camped outside military facilities.
The encampments were characterized as “incubators of terrorism” by Dino, the justice minister. Most protests were peaceful, but a few isolated threats, like a bomb discovered on a gasoline truck going to the airport in Brasilia, raised security concerns.
Bolsonaro flew to the United States two days before Lula’s inauguration on January 1 and set up temporary residence in Orlando.
Many Brazilians expressed relief that, despite his refusal to participate, his absence allowed the change of power to occur without incident.
That is, until Sunday’s devastation.
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