Bolsonaro out of hospital, as Brazil vows to protect democracy

Rio de Janeiro: Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital in Florida on Monday with stomach pains as 1500 of his supporters were rounded up in Brasilia after storming key buildings in the capital.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist who took office on January 1 after defeating Bolsonaro in an October election, vowed to bring those responsible to justice. He accused rioters of trying to overthrow democracy, and questioned why the army had not discouraged calls for a military coup outside their barracks.

A supporter of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro breaks camp outside a military base in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, on Monday. New President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva ordered all makeshift camps gone within 24 hours.Credit: AP

On Sunday (Monday AEDT), angry mobs rampaged through Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace, smashing windows, furniture and artwork in the worst attack on state institutions since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s.

Bolsonaro, who flew to the United States days before his term in office ended, went to a hospital in Orlando complaining of intestinal pains related to a stabbing he suffered during the 2018 election campaign. His doctor said he had an intestinal blockage that was not serious and would likely not need surgery. A source close to Bolsonaro’s family said his condition was “not worrying”. Bolsonaro himself tweeted a photo from his hospital bed saying he’d been discharged.

In an interview with CNN Brasil, Bolsonaro said he had planned to stay in the United States until the end of January, but now planned to go back to Brazil sooner to see his doctors.

“I intend to bring forward my return because in Brazil the doctors already know about my problem of intestinal obstruction due to the stab wound,” Bolsonaro said, according to a report on the CNN Brasil website.

Members of the military outside the Planalto Palace following attacks on government buildings by supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia.Credit: Bloomberg

At least two Democrats in the US have called for him to be expelled or his visa to be cancelled.

Bolsonaro faces several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the United States, where he travelled with a visa issued to heads of state, diplomats and other government officials, is in question.

Brazilian authorities have vowed to protect democracy and punish thousands of his supporters.

A soldier carefully collects national flags after supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro left the encampment.Credit: AP

Police broke down a pro-Bolsonaro encampment outside a military building on Monday and detained some 1200 people there, the Justice Ministry’s press office told The Associated Press.

Lula and the heads of the Supreme Court, Senate and Lower House also signed a letter on Monday denouncing acts of terrorism and vandalism and saying they were taking legal measures.

Justice Minister Flávio Dino told reporters police have begun tracking those who paid for the buses that transported protesters to the capital. The buildings would be inspected for evidence including fingerprints and images to hold people to account, and that the rioters apparently intended to spark similar unrest nationwide.

“They will not succeed in destroying Brazilian democracy. We need to say that fully, with all firmness and conviction,” Dino said. “We will not accept the path of criminality to carry out political fights in Brazil. A criminal is treated like a criminal.”

On Sunday, rioters donning the green and yellow of the national flag broke windows, toppled furniture, hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punctured a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the palace in seven places and completely destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table at which Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice’s office and vandalised an iconic statue outside the court. The monumental buildings’ interiors were left in ruins.

Monday’s arrests came in addition to the 300 arrested on Sunday while caught in the act.

Damaged portraits of former Senate Presidents José Sarney and Renan Calheiros are seen at the Brazilian National Congress.Credit: Getty

But police were noticeably slow to react – even after the arrival of more than 100 buses – leading many to ponder whether authorities had either simply ignored numerous warnings, underestimated the protesters’ strength, or been somehow complicit.

Public prosecutors in the capital said local security forces had at the very least been negligent. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor. Another justice blamed authorities for not swiftly cracking down on budding neo-fascism.

After his October 30 electoral defeat, Bolsonaro has been stoking belief among his hardcore supporters that the electronic voting system was prone to fraud – though he never presented any evidence. His lawmaker son Eduardo Bolsonaro held several meetings with former US president Donald Trump, Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon and his senior campaign adviser, Jason Miller.

Results from Brazil’s election – the closest in more than three decades – were quickly recognised by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of governments. And Bolsonaro surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view. He neither conceded defeat nor emphatically cried fraud, though he and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes that was swiftly dismissed.

People survey damage caused by Bolsonaro supporters following a riot the previous day at Planalto Palace.Credit: Getty

Brazilians have used electronic voting since 1996 that some security experts consider less secure than hand-marked paper ballots because they leave no auditable paper trail. Brazil’s system is, however, closely scrutinised and domestic authorities and international observers have never found evidence of it being exploited to commit fraud.

Still, Bolsonaro’s supporters refused to accept the results. They blocked roads and have remained camped outside military buildings, urging the armed forces to intervene. Dino, the justice minister, referred to the encampments as incubators of terrorism. Protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, but isolated threats – including a bomb found on a fuel truck headed to Brasilia’s airport – prompted security concerns.

Two days before Lula’s January 1 inauguration, Bolsonaro flew to the US and took up temporary residence in Orlando. Many Brazilians expressed relief that, while he declined to participate in the transition of power, his absence allowed it to occur without incident.

Or so it had been, until Sunday’s havoc.

“Bolsonarism mimics the same strategies as Trumpism. Our January 8 – an unprecedented manifestation in Brazilian politics – is clearly copied from January 6 in the Capitol,” said Paulo Calmon, a political science professor at the University of Brasilia.

“Today’s sad episodes represent yet another attempt to destabilise democracy and demonstrate that the authoritarian, populist radicalism of Brazil’s extreme right remains active under the command of former president Bolsonaro, the ‘Trump of Latin America’.”

US President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jointly said on Monday that “Canada, Mexico, and the United States condemn the January 8 attacks on Brazil’s democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power. We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions.”

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to support Lula “unconditionally”. In a message on Twitter in Portuguese he said, “The will of the Brazilian people and democratic institutions must be respected”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the riots, saying Australia stood with the democratically elected government.

Soldiers help clear out an encampment set up by supporters of Bolsonaro.Credit: AP

“When democracies have elections, it’s important that they be respected and tragically we’ve seen here actions that look a bit similar to what happened at the US Capitol building on January 6 after the election of President Biden. It’s important that we respect democratic processes,” Albanese said.

Analysts told the AP that the upheaval could yield greater political support for Lula and his stated mission to pacify the polarised country, with many right-wing citizens and politicians repulsed by the scenes and eager to distance themselves from far-right radicalism. The leader of Bolsonaro’s own party called the uprising “an embarrassment”.

“This may have been the beginning of the end. The political system will want to isolate that radical movement and move away from it,” said Mario Sérgio Lima, political analyst at Medley Advisors. “I think what we will see now is the right trying to create new alternatives and new leaders, and the centre distancing itself.”

In a news conference from Sao Paulo state, Lula read a freshly signed decree for the federal government to assume control of security in the federal district. He said that the so-called “fascist fanatics,” as well as those who financed their activities, must be punished, and also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging their uprising.

Bolsonaro repudiated the president’s accusation late Sunday. Writing on Twitter, he said peaceful protest is part of democracy, but vandalism and invasion of public buildings are “exceptions to the rule.”

Unlike the 2021 attack in the US, few officials would have been working in the top government buildings on a Sunday. And videos showed limited presence of the capital’s military police.

One video showed a group of protesters easily pushing through a police barricade, with only a few officers using pepper spray. Another showed officers standing by as protesters stormed the Congress, including one using his phone to record what was happening.

“This was a gross error by the federal district’s government. It was a tragedy foretold,” said Thiago de Aragão, director of strategy at Brasilia-based political consultancy Arko Advice. “Everyone knew [the protesters] were coming to Brasilia. The expectation was that the federal district’s government was going to mount a response to protect the capital. They didn’t do any of that.”

Lula said at his news conference there was “incompetence or bad faith” on the part of police, and he promised some would be punished.

Federal District Governor Ibaneis Rocha confirmed on Twitter he had fired the capital city’s head of public security, Anderson Torres – hours before a Supreme Court justice suspended the governor from office, alleging “intentional omission.”

“Two years since January 6, Trump’s legacy continues to poison our hemisphere,” US Senator Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate’s foreign relations committee, tweeted, adding that he blamed Bolsonaro for inciting the acts. “Protecting democracy & holding malign actors to account is essential.”

AP, Reuters

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