President Joe Biden condemned the political unrest that emerged in Brazil over the weekend after supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s major government buildings, denouncing the attack as an “assault on democracy.”
“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,” Biden said in a statement on Twitter, adding that he “looked forward” to working with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to restore order.
PRO-BOLSONARO PROTESTERS STORM BRAZILIAN CONGRESS AND PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
Biden’s statement comes after hundreds of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed several of the country’s most powerful government buildings, including the congressional building, the Supreme Court, and the Planalto Presidential Palace. During the attack, rioters smashed windows and stacked furniture to create barricades against security personnel, according to reports.
The unrest on Sunday comes after months of tension that began when Lula da Silva won the presidential election on Oct. 30, prompting Bolsonaro to claim the country’s electronic voting system was riddled with fraud and caused his defeat. That dissatisfaction only intensified once Lula da Silva was sworn into office last week.
Several U.S. lawmakers similarly condemned the attack, likening the unrest to the Jan. 6 riot that occurred just two years earlier when a group of former President Donald Trump supporters breached the Capitol in an attempt to halt the certification of the 2020 election.
“I condemn this outrageous assault on #Brazil’s govt buildings incited by demagogue Bolsonaro’s reckless disregard for democratic principles,” said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in a tweet. “2 yrs since Jan.6, Trump’s legacy continues to poison our hemisphere. Protecting democracy & holding malign actors to account is essential.”
Shortly before Lula da Silva was sworn into office on Jan. 1 and his term ended, Bolsonaro flew to Florida — prompting an outcry from several Democratic lawmakers who are calling on Biden to remove him from the country.
“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) told CNN. “The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.”
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Lula da Silva has vowed to punish the hundreds of rioters who breached government buildings on Sunday, calling the act “barbaric.”
“These people are everything that is abominable in politics,” he said. “All the people who did this will be found and punished.”
