Jamil Chad Attacks strengthen international mobilization for inauguration 12/13/2022 14:09

Attacks by coup groups in Brasília on Monday night led foreign diplomats, primarily from Western countries, to reinforce the idea that the campaign to protect Brazilian democracy should continue until the inauguration of elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

After Lula’s diplomacy, on December 12, groups damaged cars and buses in the federal capital, in addition to trying to occupy the Federal Police. The actions were interpreted by foreign observers as a sign that the most radical groups of Bolsonarism were still present. But the idea that this was a spontaneous movement was rejected in Brasilia.

The goal now is to bring a significant number of heads of state, heads of government, chancellors and international leaders to Brazil for January 1, 2023. The arrivals of the Spanish monarch as well as the supreme authority of Germany, Europe’s largest economy, were considered positive points in this endeavor.

But the idea is that the list will be expanded in the coming days. “The signal we want to send is that the new Brazilian government is supported by Western democracies,” said one experienced European negotiator.

For governments abroad, it is not the figure of the PT that needs to be protected. However, the Brazilian election process can reverse the results of a clean vote that the far right could not prevent.

Police operations against far-right movements in Europe and the European Parliament’s reports in May 2022 show how alarming the threat to democracy seems. The research reveals that 23,000 far-right incidents categorized as “politically motivated” were recorded in Germany; this is the highest rate in 20 years and almost double that of 2019. More than 1,000 of these were violent.

As the UOL specifically envisioned before the first round of the presidential election, European and North American capitals formed a sort of task force to seal the polling results in Brazil. And indeed, that’s what happened in the minutes after Lula’s victory was announced.

However, there is a perception that the effort must be sustained, given that the time taken to take office will be used to create social disturbances and question the electoral process.