Insurrection in Brazil raises questions over loyalty of security forces

The invasion of Brazil’s presidential palace, congress and supreme court by a mob of several thousand supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday afternoon was dramatic and shocking. But as a coup attempt, it fizzled very fast.

The extremists over-ran the country’s main government buildings with surprising ease, suggesting the possible connivance of some of the security forces tasked with guarding the modernist complex in the heart of the capital Brasília. But once they had occupied the seats of executive, judicial and legislative power, the protesters did not articulate any plan beyond smashing windows and furniture, damaging artworks and filming one another.

Within a few hours, security had cleared the buildings, which were empty at the time, restored order and made several hundred arrests. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was visiting São Paulo state, swiftly condemned the rioters and ordered federal authorities to take over security in the capital. The Supreme Court suspended the governor of Brasília over his failure to prevent the invasion.

Brazil’s main news media united in condemning what they termed “terrorist acts” of the far right and demanding punishment for those involved. No political leader of any import has endorsed the mob’s actions or demands. Even Bolsonaro, who has previously fed his far-right supporters’ delusions with attacks on the integrity of Brazil’s electoral system, said on Twitter that the “depredations and invasions of public buildings . . . had crossed the line”. 

This was high drama with a farcical tinge: the most serious attack on Brazilian democracy since the end of military rule in 1985 by protesters who had no visible leader on the spot and who did not implement a clear plan. They seemed to hope that the army would respond to their insurrection by overthrowing the elected government and bringing back Bolsonaro.

Yet when security forces moved into Brasília’s government quarter, it was not to join the protesters but to remove them. Whatever sympathies some soldiers or police might harbour for the far-right protesters’ agenda — and a number clearly do — the leadership of Brazil’s security forces has so far remained solidly behind democracy.

“My biggest worry in the coming days is what happens to the security forces and their ability to guarantee security around the country,” said Monica de Bolle, a Brazil expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “To what extent will authorities all over the country be able to contain acts like this and this type of domestic terrorism?”

The invasion did not come out of the blue. Ever since Lula eked out a narrow second-round victory over Bolsonaro at the end of October last year, groups of far-right protesters have camped outside army barracks in different parts of the country demanding that the military depose Lula. Troops have not joined these protests but neither have they removed them.

Prior to Sunday, few took these protests seriously. They failed to prevent Lula’s inauguration on January 1, which passed off peacefully in a carnival atmosphere. Now, the Supreme Court has ordered the removal of the far-right protest camps within 24 hours.

Bolsonaro must bear a heavy responsibility for the repugnant scenes in Brasília. His failure to clearly accept his election defeat, his curmudgeonly refusal to appear at the inauguration to hand over power and his reluctance to order an end to the continuing protests all contributed to this squalid debacle. He was last seen in public in Florida, a convenient distance from which to observe the unfolding drama.

The failed insurrection highlights the difficulties facing Lula as he begins a third presidential term in far less favourable economic and political circumstances than his previous administrations from 2003-10. While most Brazilians strongly support the democratically elected government, a substantial minority have never forgiven the leftist leader for the corruption that flourished during the rule of his Workers’ Party (PT) or for the deep recession triggered by the mismanagement of his successor Dilma Rousseff.

As well as a slowing economy, rising levels of poverty and a highly polarised society, the 77-year-old president now has to worry about insurrections by the far right.

“This will be a huge distraction for the Lula government in the next weeks and months,” said Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo. “The challenges facing Lula are hugely complex, involving not only the economy but also a profoundly divided society with radical elements, possibly involving parts of the security establishment.”

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