‘Trump of the tropics’ Bolsonaro and backers follow his friend Donald’s playbook once again

The links between Bolsonaro and Trump stretch back to well before the violence in Brasilia. Now, writes Kim Sengupta, the supporters of Brazil’s former leader are following their American counterparts by attacking democracy

Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with the police on Sunday (AFP/Getty)

The storming of Brazil’s seats of power by a rampaging mob backing Jair Bolsonaro has sent a shockwave through the country and around the world. It appears the lingering fear that toxic political divisions would erupt into violence has rung true.

Hundreds have been arrested following the riots and the government buildings that were occupied have been cleared. There was no certainty, however, that this would end further strife by the followers of the far-right former president who refuses to accept the victory of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The hardliners, many of them armed, are on a crusade to stop the left-wing Lula whom they label, falsely, a communist, from “turning Brazil into another Venezuela or Cuba”. And they have support, covertly and at times overtly, from elements of the security forces.

World leaders voiced their support for the Lula administration following the attacks, with Joe Biden saying: “I condemn the assault on democracy and on 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.”

It is believed that similar international support and acceptance of the election outcome within hours of results played a part in stopping any possible Bolsonaro plans of clinging to office.

However, strictures from abroad are unlikely to sway Bolsonaro supporters who intend to carry on their aggressive protests, with the next flashpoint coming soon.

Ever since Lula narrowly won the second round of the election, the former president’s supporters have camped out across the country, often outside military bases calling for a coup. On Monday, Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered troops to start dismantling the camps within 24 hours and clear all highways of roadblocks.

“Absolutely nothing justifies the existence of full camps of terrorists, sponsored by various financiers and with the complacency of civil and military authorities in total subversion of necessary respect for the Federal Constitution," read his order. Commanders from the armed forces, police and the defence minister will be held accountable in court if this was not done, it added.

This came after President Lula, who blamed Bolsonaro for the attacks, vowed that  “anyone involved will be punished”. The attack, he said, had been carried out by  “vandals, neo-fascists and fanatics” with the complicity of some police officers who “ didn’t do anything at all. They just let the protesters in.” The federal police chief, Anderson Torres, who previously served as Bolsonaro’s justice minister, has been fired and Ibaneis Rocha, the pro-Bolsonaro governor of the federal district, has been suspended from office for 90 days.

Bolsonaro remains out of the country, having broken precedent by refusing to attend his successor’s inauguration. Some reports claimed that he had fled to escape possible criminal charges over a range of alleged offences while in power. The former president turned up in Florida where, according to reports, he is due to meet Donald Trump at his home, Mar-a-Lago.

There have been immediate and predictable comparisons between what happened in Brasilia and the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters two years ago. The images from both assaults were similar: flag-draped intruders lounging on office chairs, ransacking and stealing property, assaulting guards.

Security forces stand guard as supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro leave a camp outside the the army headquarters in Brasilia (Reuters)

Both sets of protesters were following authoritarian populist leaders who claimed they had been victims of electoral fraud. In Brazil, as in the US, the discontent has been fuelled by conspiracy theories on social media.

As the Brasilia attack unfolded, well-known Trump supporters egged on the rioters, with Steve Bannon lauding them as “freedom fighters” who knew “criminal, atheistic, Marxist Lula stole the election”. Ali Alexander, a fringe activist who became prominent in Trump’s Stop the Steal movement, exhorted: “Do whatever is necessary.”

The links between the camps of Trump and Bolsonaro, who revelled in his “Trump of the Tropics” moniker, began long before the Brazilian election and its aftermath, with Bannon one of the main conduits.

During the Brazilian election campaign, Trump wrote on his social platform: “President Jair Bolsonaro and I have become great friends over the past few years for the people of the United States... He is a wonderful man and has my complete and total endorsement.”

Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva meets with Supreme Court ministers and his cabinet on Monday (AFP/Getty)

Bolsonaro has so far failed to explicitly condemn the attacks. He tweeted: “Peaceful demonstrations, within the law, form part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings like those that happened today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, are exceptions to the rule.”

The mood among some who took to the streets against Lula remained defiant. One protester, Bernardo Lopez Diaz, said: “I did not go [into the public buildings] and do not agree with the damage that was caused. But we are not going to accept a fake result. If they start destroying camps, we’ll build new ones. We have a right to be heard.”

Felipe Contreras, a former policeman in Sao Paolo, said: “It is no longer just about Bolsonaro. He has frankly been disappointing in the way he just accepted the election and is not even here now. No, this is about stopping a communist takeover of our country. We are going to stop this happening; we don’t care what people in North America or Europe say, you don’t face ending up like Venezuela. We are prepared for whatever happens.”

Bolsonaro dismantled much of Brazil’s gun control legislation during his time in office. Ownership of registered firearms increased six-fold during his tenure, with 700,000 now officially owned.

During the election campaign, The Independent visited a gun club with booming sales in Sao Paulo. At a shooting range attached to the shop an instructor told a group of teenagers: “If you are going to use a gun, you need to do it properly. You’ll find this necessary to defend your family, your community. Our country faces a dark future, communists could try to take over.”