Guyana condemns invasion of Brazil Congress by protesters 

Jan 10, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – The Guyana Government joined with other countries in condemning the invasion of Brazil Congress and the Supreme Court on Sunday by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

“We condemn every attempt and attack against the Presidency and democratic institutions of Brazil. Those who utilise violence to subvert democracy must be brought swiftly to Justice,” President Irfaan Ali said in a terse statement.

“We call on all stakeholders to be responsible and not be part of this unacceptable behaviour. Guyana stands with the law-abiding people of Brazil and the institutions of the state in defense of democracy,” President Ali added.

Meanwhile, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda also condemned the storming of the Congress in Brazil by supporters of Bolsonaro.  Prime Minister Gaston Browne also denounced the actions of right-wing groups who surrounded the Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace.  The Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister said, “Mr. Bolsonaro lost the Presidential election, found to be free and fair by Observers from international organizations, including the Organization of American States, and the will of the electorate must be fully respected”.

“These attacks on institutions of government by groups, seeking to overturn the results are assaults on democracy, which will not be tolerated by the governments and peoples of the Hemisphere,” Prime Minister Browne stressed. “The Government of Antigua and Barbuda stands in support of democratically-elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his government, and we will make this position clear at the OAS and at the UN, in the coming days,” the Prime Minister added.

A joint statement has been issued at a North America summit in Mexico City, with the leaders of Canada, the US and Mexico condemning what they describe as “attacks on Brazil’s democracy”. US President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated they all “stand with Brazil, as it safeguards its democratic institutions”. “Our governments support the free will of the people of Brazil,” the three leaders said in their statement. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has said he did not instigate the unrest in Brasília on Sunday, and has always respected the constitution and the rule of law.

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice says that around 1,200 people were detained and taken to the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília after government palaces were stormed by protesters on Sunday. Most of the arrests happened in front of the army headquarters in Brasília, where supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro had been camping since December. According to the local police, dozens of buses were used in the operation.

On Sunday evening, Brazilian minister of Justice Flavio Dino said that 200 people had been arrested in connection to acts of vandalism in Brazil’s capital. The minister said that 40 buses were seized after being used to transport protesters from other regions of the country to Brasília. “These buses are instruments for perpetuating crimes”, Dino said.

The investigation is now trying to establish who financed the protests. In messages sent throughout the week on Telegram, organisers offered available spaces in “free buses” with “everything for free: water, coffee, lunch, dinner”. Inspections inside government palaces include the collection of DNA traces left in surfaces and personal items left behind. Drone footage gathered by Brazil’s Federal Police during the attacks is also being used to help identifying the protesters.

On Sunday thousands of supporters of Bolsonaro stormed the country’s National Congress and Supreme Court in the capital Brasília. Police responded by firing tear gas as demonstrators wrapped themselves in the national flag, shouting slogans while surrounding the presidential palace.

This invasion comes just a week after the inauguration of Bolsonaro’s leftist rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro, who is currently in the US, lost the presidential election to left-wing veteran Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last October. Since then, his supporters have been refusing to accept that he lost the election and have since been calling for military intervention and Lula’s resignation.

Meanwhile, videos on social media showed Bolsonaro supporters smashing windows and furniture of the National Congress and Supreme Court buildings. One video even showed a policeman being pulled from his horse and viciously beaten by a mob of protesters. Many climbed onto the roof of the Congress building, where Brazil’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies conduct their legislative business, unfurling a banner that read “intervention” and an apparent appeal to Brazil’s military.

Images on TV channel Globo News also showed protesters roaming the presidential palace, many of them wearing green and yellow – the colours of the Brazilian flag, which have also come to symbolise the Bolsonaro government. In an impassioned speech President Lula who appeared visibly angry said that what happened in Brazil on Sunday is unprecedented in the country’s history. He called the intellectual authors behind the uprising “fanatic fascists” who represented “everything that’s abominable” in politics. He repeatedly said that “these fanatics have done something that’s never before been done in this country”.

President Lula vowed to bring the perpetrators of this most despicable invasion to justice. He said that no effort would be spared to finding all those responsible and have them severely punished “with all the force of the law” Lula is not currently in the capital, and is instead on an official trip to São Paulo state.

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• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, OAS, President Irfaan Ali, President Jair Bolsonaro, Supreme Court, UN

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