SZ podcast: riots in Brazil: why it wasn’t a coup attempt – politics
At the end of October 2022, Lula da Silva narrowly defeated the far-right incumbent in the presidential elections in Brazil Jair Bolsonaro won. The left-wing politician was sworn in on New Year’s Day – and then on January 8th all the hatred of the right wing erupted: a mob invaded state institutions in Brasilia and left devastation in their wake.
All of this is reminiscent of the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Except that Bolsonaro did not actively intervene, like Trump, who lost the election at the time – and Lula was already in office. For the president, the rioters are “vandals” and “fanatical fascists” who could have raged because of inadequate security precautions.
In any case, it was probably not a coup attempt, says SZ South America correspondent Christoph Gurk. Rather, it was an attempt by the right to “make a riot”. Because it made “no sense at all” what happened on Sunday. You couldn’t have overthrown anyone because the politicians were all gone. They wanted to spread fear and show that they were still there despite the new left-wing president. Even with the road blockades after the election, “large donors from the agricultural industry” were behind the protests.
It will be exciting to see how the military will behave in the near future. Bolsonaro, who fled to Florida, was “responsible for the violence because he had been raising doubts about this electoral system for months, sometimes even for more than a year, in the run-up to the elections.” There is no evidence to support this claim. “His followers still believe it,” says Gurk. It will be “very difficult for Lula to unite this country, which he actually promised”.
More news: Lützerath will probably be cleared this week, anti-terrorist operation in Castrop-Rauxel: No evidence found so far.
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