After the Brasilia riots, President Lula became stronger
RIO DE JANEIRO: Far-right rioters on January 8 finally consolidated the leftist president’s rule by looting institutional buildings in Brazil and disrupting Lula’s rule at all costs, analysts said.
Since October, more than 4,000 supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who rejected his election defeat to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have used the fact that the new government is fully prepared to sow chaos in the capital.
Exactly one week after Lula’s inauguration, which mixed ceremonial pomp and popular joy in Brazil, unleashed troops occupied and looted the Planalto Presidential Palace, the Supreme Court and Congress.
Mayra Goulart, professor of political science at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), told AFP that “It is clear that the events (on January 8) had the opposite effect of what was sought.
“Lula is definitely coming out stronger. These attacks have created an atmosphere of national unity to defend democracy,” he explains.
The image was powerful: Lula walking down the ramp from the presidential palace to the Three Forces Square surrounded by the leaders of the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies, the Supreme Court and the governors, just hours after the destruction of the city. strength.
Together, they reaffirmed that Brazil’s young democracy will not waver three decades after the end of the military dictatorship.
Abroad, the attack was unanimously condemned. Washington, Moscow, Beijing, the European Union, Paris and the capitals of Latin America expressed their full support for the president of Brazil, who isolated himself from the world during Bolsonaro’s time.
“The international turmoil will strengthen Lula’s position, he will be seen as an important leader who can contribute to the strengthening of multilateral forums,” predicts Ms. Goulart.
“Unanimous support”
Leandro Gabiati, director of the consulting firm Dominium, also believes that “the positive image that Lula already has abroad is getting stronger.” And that of Jair Bolsonaro, the target of an investigation into the instigators of the violence he now swears he had nothing to do with, is further humiliated.
Domestically, Lula is strong with “unanimous support from governors, Congress, the Supreme Court and the financial sector,” which comes from across the political spectrum.
Behind the historical leader of the left in this sequence is the political class and the Brazilian population, the vast majority of whom are shocked by the shocking images of violence against institutions.
Lula “got busy and he turned out very well,” Mr. Gabiati said, instilling “a balanced attitude that allowed us to restore normalcy.”
In official buildings still full of broken windows and gutted old furniture, in the days after the Bolsonian tornado, almost as if nothing had happened, the new ministers of Lula’s government continued to invest in official ceremonies.
But Lula’s government was adamant: “fascists” would be hunted down, sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for “terrorism,” as well as increased robbery of rioters and bystanders.
Over a thousand rioters were arrested within a few days.
Police forces and security services will be reorganized, the security of the presidential palace will be cleared of Bolsonarians.
Mr. Gabiati believes that Lula “will have to impose exemplary sanctions to prevent the recurrence of such demonstrations.”
“A Country Divided”
Because the left-wing president remains under threat from the Bolsonarian movement, whose most extreme elements do not stop trying to overthrow him. And nothing says that national unity will continue.
The Eurasian advisers note that these events “are a reminder that Lula is facing a deeply divided country.”
Lula defeated Bolsonaro in the presidential election by 60 million votes to 58 million after a violent and polarized campaign.
In addition, he must face many challenges for this 3rd term at the head of Brazil, where poverty and hunger are plagues.
“Energy must be spent on investigations and convictions of the hitmen, but this should not tarnish de Lula’s mandate,” Ms Goulart said.
If the leftist icon wants to successfully fulfill his mandate, he will have to “improve the living conditions of the population, revive the economy and state politics.”
