Protests in Brazil

On January 8th, 2023, supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Balsonario stormed into democratic institutions in response to Balsonario’s claims of election fraud. At least 1,500 of the rioters have been arrested since that day. 

According to CNN, during the election against current president Lula da Silva, Balsonario “doubted the legitimacy of the vote” without citing evidence, and claimed there were malfunctions in voting machines. Once he was lost, unable to accept defeat, he stepped up those claims, but Brazil’s Ministry of Defense found no evidence for any of them. The day before Silva’s inauguration, he fled to Florida. 

The riots happened a week after the inauguration of da Silva. They trashed offices, destroyed artworks, stole gifts received from International Delegations, and attempted to set fire to the carpet of the Congress building. 

Some people were shocked to see this happening in Brazil. Izabelle Freeburg, a Brazilian native, said that she at first felt shock, and as it started to sink in, she felt sadness and disappointment. “After Jan 6th, I thought, ‘This would never happen again. The world is watching this. No one’s going to have to replicate this,’” she said, “and that not only happens in another country, but the country of your birth, so it’s very disappointing. This is the first time in my life, since I was born, that I have ever been ashamed to be a Brazilian.”

She said that this has never happened in Brazil before. “People have always demonstrated democratic rights and protesting peacefully,” she said, “maybe not as peacefully sometimes, but never to the point where it’s violent and reckless, like vandalizing a government building.”

Sophomore Gavin Brown was surprised by what happened and felt that the riots could not be justified for their actions. “That’s just not a way to go about things. I feel like because of what happened in the U.S., they thought violence was the answer, and it was clearly not,” he said. 

Brandon Goslin, a U.S Government teacher at Central, wasn’t as surprised. “When you look at what former president Trump was saying leading up to the election, and then you look at what Balsonario was saying leading up to his re-election, it’s like a copy from the same playbook,” he said. 

Goslin explained that both Balsonario and Trump said things to encourage their base, who tend to be more right, to distrust the government more by stoking their fears of their way of life being taken away if the more progressive side gains power.

Goslin felt that the rioters should’ve just “accepted that they lost” instead of storming the institution. “A lot of it has to do with privilege, especially in the United States,” he said. He also talked about how the United States has had white people in positions of power that feel entitled to be there, and people tell them they’re great all the time.  “When people tell you that they don’t actually like you for whatever reason, people have a hard time with that,” he said. He felt that even though the rioters disagreed with the results and didn’t like that Lula da Silva was elected, they should’ve used the democratic system to voice those concerns. 

Many compared this event to the attack on the US capitol on January 6th, 2021. Former President Trump was a close ally to Bolsanario and, like Trump, Bolsanario complained about “fake news” regarding his presidency, and insisted that the polling was “rigged and untrustworthy”. 

Goslin said the attack on the capitol played a pretty big role in the riot in Brazil partly because of the fact that Trump and Bolsanario were said to be close. He said, “I’m sure that when he [Balsonario] was losing the election, they’re [the people of Brazil] going to look at what Trump did and think, ‘Hey, maybe that could work for us here.’ I can’t say that it was intentional, but I feel like it played a big role and it’s kind of hard to deny that.” Goslin said he was not sure, but it would be possible for Brazil to attack if the capital event in the U.S. didn’t happen, but he feels that it was more likely for them to attack because it happened here. 

Brown agreed with the similarities and felt that compared to the attack on the U.S capitol, “it was a very similar mob-type act”. He felt that the rioters were heavily influenced by the capitol attack. “They probably would’ve protested, but I don’t know if they would’ve been as violent. I don’t think they would’ve stormed the capitol either,” he said. 

Freeburg also agreed that the capitol attack gave the rioters in Brazil inspiration. “The US is seen as the #1 regardless if it’s true or not. So I think it was highly influenced by Trump’s reign. But of course, I can never know for sure,” she said. 

Goslin and Freeburg also believed that the rioters’ actions were unjustifiable. Goslin said, “When someone is encouraging [rioters] towards using violence as a means to take control of a democratically elected government, I think that’s a bad thing. I think it’s going to lead to civil unrest and it’s going to lead to people who are becoming angrier and angrier. I’m all with voicing your displeasure and in some ways, it becomes necessary to use violence, but I don’t condone it in these cases because it is indirect opposition to the idea of having a peaceful transfer of power within the government.”

“I could not help but feel that somehow this is a behavior learned after the Jan 6th event in the U.S. There’s no way this can be justified,” Freeburg said. “Everyone has a right to protest and make their voices heard, but there is no reason to vandalize a government building and act like animals.” 

Freeburg felt that if someone had an argument, they could win if they were smart about it and if they gave time to be heard and hear the other side. “Once you go to vandalism and reckless behavior, you’ve already lost the battle,” she said. 

According to CNN, Brazil’s president’s communications minister believed the Brazil riot was more serious because the rioters stormed the house of all three branches of power. Silva said the riot was “abominable in politics” and everyone who participated “will be found and punished”. Everyone involved will be investigated for criminal offenses by the Attorney General’s Office in the Federal District in Brazil.