How Brazil’s protest resembles the Capitol storming (and how not)

AFP

An angry mob that storms government buildings out of dissatisfaction with an election result, demolishes it and speaks of fraud. That’s what happened this weekend in the Brazilian capital Brasilia. And also what happened during the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021 in the American capital Washington DC Connoisseurs see similarities, but also differences.

“It’s not just the images we see, but also the ideas behind these storms that bear similarities to the storming of the Capitol,” Mike Wendling, reporter on American disinformation at the BBC, told Nieuwsuur. “For example, there were banners criticizing voting computers, just like in Washington.”

Bolsonaro supporters, like Trump supporters, felt that the election had been ‘stolen’ by the opponent. In this case Lula da Silva. In the case of Donald Trump, it was Joe Biden. The fake stories about fraud were fueled through social media long before the election, just like in the US.

‘Visiting Trump’

The fact that Bolsonaro and Trump also have warm ties makes the comparison even more logical. “Ideologically they are close to each other,” says Wendling. Both politicians are very conservative and nationalistic.

“And we know that one of Bolsonaro’s sons has recently spoken with Steve Bannon and that he has visited Donald Trump,” says Wendling. Bannon is a former adviser to former President Trump and is seen as one of the instigators of the Capitol storming. He called the people storming the buildings “Freedom fighters” in a tweet on Sunday night.

Also, according to Wendling, among Bolsonaro’s supporters, just like among Trump’s, there are QAnon supporters. QAnon is a conspiracy theory that has come over from the United States. Supporters of this theory think that a global elite is after a world government and is guilty of satanic ritual child abuse.

Latin America correspondent Boris van der Spek:

“There are many parallels, but also differences. A big difference is that many people were immediately arrested here. Another big difference is that fewer people were present in those government buildings (it’s summer vacation in Brazil, ed.) during the storming , so there have been no deaths so far.”

Kees Koonings, professor of Brazil studies at the University of Amsterdam, recognizes these similarities and sees that ‘Trump admirer’ Bolsonaro uses the same tricks as the ex-president of America. However, there are also differences, he says. “Bolsonaro is now keeping quiet, unlike Trump who whipped up his supporters.”

In addition, according to the Brazil expert, it is an important difference that the storming in the US took place while the process of the election results was still ongoing, “while in Brazil the result of the elections was already crystal clear”.

Wendling also emphasizes that the police approach is incomparable. “According to reports, about 1200 arrests have already been made here. In the US it took much longer and there were much fewer. About 900 spread over two years.”

Reuters

An arrested attacker is taken away.

The BBC reporter tries to interpret those numbers. “That higher number of arrests may mean that many more people were involved in the storms in Brazil, but also that the government there acts faster. Both may be true.”

‘Coup the goal’

Whether the demonstrators actually wanted to bring about a change must be found out, Wendling believes. “As with the storming of the Capitol, there really wasn’t much of a plan for what to do after the storming.”

Koonings is convinced that the group’s demonstrators in Brazil did believe that a coup was possible. “That was also the motivation to participate in the storming.”

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