On 8 January the three branches of Brazil’s government held a ceremony to celebrate the resilience of the country’s institutions one year after radical right-wing supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023) stormed government buildings in Brasília.
Analysis:
The anniversary of the most high-profile attack on Brazil’s democratic institutions in recent memory has renewed the pressure to punish those who participated in and organised the riots. In September, the supreme court (STF) began its trials to sentence those who were arrested on the day of the attack. So far, it has only been individual rioters who have been imprisoned, rather than those who organised the riots. Around 2,000 people were arrested on 8 January and in the aftermath of the riots, and 30 have been convicted for serious offences such as attempting a coup.
- In his speech yesterday, Lula did not name Bolsonaro directly, but he referred to his predecessor as a “putschist ex-president”. Although no charges have been pressed against Bolsonaro in relation to the riots, the federal police (PF) has been investigating him as a potential ‘intellectual author’ of the anti-democratic attack and, in June 2023, the top electoral court (TSE) found him guilty of abusing his presidential platform to spread misinformation seeking to undermine the electoral process, barring him from running for office for eight years.
- The display of unity between the branches of power in defence of democracy was undermined by some notable absentees. STF president Luís Roberto Barroso and senate president Rodrigo Pacheco stood by Lula, echoing his comments about the strength of democratic institutions, but the president of the lower house, Arthur Lira, did not attend the ceremony. Conservative parties, such as Bolsonaro’s Partido Liberal (PL) and Lira’s Progressistas (PP), enjoy a strong presence in the lower house.
- In addition to federal government officials, 12 of Brazil’s 27 governors attended yesterday’s ceremony. However, the governors of Brazil’s three most populous states (Tarcísio de Freitas of São Paulo, Romeu Zema of Minas Gerais, and Cláudio Castro of Rio de Janeiro) did not attend. De Freitas and Zema are widely seen as rising stars of the Brazilian right and potential torchbearers to rally conservatives in future elections.
Looking Ahead: The PF has launched the next phase of its operations to identify those who financed the 8 January riots. PF investigators made one arrest yesterday and served 46 search & seizure warrants.