There has been lots of chaos in Brazil this past week, and there are several things from these events that have affected democracy as a whole.  A huge chunk of the rioters has been arrested, and there is a lot to be done by the Brazilian congress.

What Happened in Brazil?

Similar to the January 6th attack on the U.S capitol, several Brazilian supporters of their former president Jair Bolsonaro, who lost the election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, did not take to it lightly and decided to storm government buildings. Rioters breached the entrance of the Supreme Court and presidential palace. Once the rioters got in the building, they flooded the floors with the sprinkler system, destroyed various objects, and destroyed artwork. The presidential communications minister even reported to have seen blood in the buildings. Around 400 protestors have been arrested so far, and the numbers keep going up. 

Who Is Responsible for This?

The big question everybody has been asking is who is responsible for organizing these protests? Could it have been the former president? For now, this remains unclear. The former president has said bad things about Luiz after the election, so there are several people who are convinced that he was behind it. Before this attack happened, there were Bolsonaro supporters camping outside of the government building after Bolsonaro’s defeat. According to the Brazil Police Department, there were attempts to attack the government building prior to January 8th. As of now, most people are unsure who was responsible for pushing people on to attack the government buildings. 

What is the Outcome of This?

A big majority of the people who attacked government buildings were arrested, but now more supporters of the former president are starting to take part in these riots. These riots have started to move to airports and roads, which have led to several canceled flights, and lots of people were left stuck on the streets. Multiple political leaders are trying to stop the chaos and resolve the conflict. Shortly after the attacks, Brazilian authorities took over the government buildings. If these attacks continue and are successful, we may see the fall of Brazil’s democracy through authoritarians taking power by force. 

The Similarities Between the Attacks on Brazil’s Government Buildings and U.S. January 6th Attacks

History does indeed repeat itself. These attacks have a lot in common with the January 6th attacks we had in 2021. Both are an attack to democracy, and they both threaten the country’s stability as a whole. In fact, the vice president even said himself there was no doubt that the attacks were inspired by the attack on January 6th. Both attacks were done due to false belief of election fraud. 

Conclusion

Brazil is going through a hard time right now, and it does not look like this problem will be resolved anytime soon. Hopefully, everybody will soon know who is responsible for these awful attacks on government buildings and things can come to a peaceful conclusion.