A Brief History
On January 8, 2023, supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Brazilian capital of Brasilia in protest of the 2022 presidential election that Bolsonaro lost to Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. Apparently, dissatisfaction with the results of a presidential election is NOT a uniquely American phenomenon!
Digging Deeper
The pro-Bolsonaro mob heavily damaged several government buildings, including the Presidential Palace and the national Supreme Federal Court as well as the Congress building. The stated goal of the mob was to force the Brazilian military to take action and hopefully reinstate Bolsonaro. Hundreds of rioters were arrested and jailed, as they had set fires and destroyed fire hydrants in an effort to effect maximum damage.
Oddly enough, Bolsonaro was in Orlando, Florida, during the insurrection, the state home to Donald Trump. Several Brazilian government officials were arrested and plans authorizing Bolsonaro to implement “emergency measures” were found.
Question for students (and subscribers): Is a violent insurrection allowable if you think an election was fraudulent? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Sherman, John. Bolsonaro. John Wesley Sherman, 2022.
Wolfe, Joel. Brazil. Polity, 2023.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
