The attempts to storm several places of power in Brazil by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday, January 8, resonated in a particular way in the United States, two years almost to the day after the invasion of the Capitol in Washington by supporters of Donald Trump.
Traveling to Texas, US President Joe Biden first judged “scandalous” the violence of pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators before posting a message on his Twitter account.
“I condemn the attack on democracy and the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined. I look forward to continuing to work with [le président brésilien] Lula. »
Previously the White House had said, in a tweet from Councilman Jake Sullivan, that the United States condemned “any attempt to undermine democracy in Brazil”.
The silence of the American Republican camp
The elected American Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, very followed on social networks, made the connection with the events that took place in Washington on January 6, 2021.
“Nearly two years to the day the day the United States Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad trying to do the same in Brazil”, she wrote on Twitter. “We must stand in solidarity with the democratically elected government [du président Lula] », she adds, even asking for the departure of Jair Bolsonaro who has been in Florida since the end of December.
For now, the main political reactions in the United States come exclusively from the Democratic camp. The new Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, and his colleague in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, leader of the Grand Old Party, remain silent. A silence that translates the embarrassment of the American right as the events in Brazil recall those of January 6 that it would like to forget.
“Brazilian democracy will prevail”, according to Josep Borrell
On his side, Emmanuel Macron assured Lula on Sunday of “unwavering support from France”. “The will of the Brazilian people and democratic institutions must be respected”urged the French President on Twitter. These attacks “constitute an unacceptable challenge to the result of a democratic election, won without ambiguity on October 30 by Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva”had reacted earlier Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
In Europe, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, expressed his “absolute condemnation” of the invasion and “full support” to the new president, “elected by millions of Brazilians in fair and free elections”. The same support expressed by the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, who said “dismayed” by the acts of“violent extremists”. “Brazilian democracy will prevail over violence and extremism”he tweeted.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said to herself “deeply concerned”. “Democracy must always be respected”she tweeted in Portuguese, adding that the European Parliament was ” alongside “ by Lula “and of all legitimate and democratically elected institutions”.
Far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, on Twitterthat “What is happening in Brazil cannot leave us indifferent. The images of the irruption in the seats of the institutions are incompatible with any form of democratic disagreement. »
Test your general knowledge with the writing of the “World”
To discover
In a statement, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he supported “the democratic government elected at the ballot box” and condemned “the actions of groups that oppose legitimate outcomes”.
Support from neighboring countries for Lula
In Latin America, the leftist president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, brought on Twitter his support for the Lula government “in the face of this cowardly attack on democracy”. His Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, for his part condemned a “fascist attack”.
“The fascists will always seek to take by force what they did not obtain at the ballot box”, Bolivian President Luis Arce said on Twitter. The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lepez Obrador, judged him, also on Twitterthe “conservative coup attempt” in brazil ‘rreprehensible and undemocratic,” adding: “Lula is not alone, he has the support of progressive forces in his country, in Mexico, in the Americas and around the world. »
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez insisted, also on Twitteron “his unconditional support and that of the Argentine people [au président Lula] in the face of this attempted coup d’etat”.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro condemned “categorically the violence generated by the neofascist groups of Bolsonaro” seeking to depose President Lula.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned these acts intended to “to generate chaos and flout the popular will”estimating on Twitter that the “Bolsonarists imitate Trumpists” when they stormed the Capitol.