World leaders condemn anti-government mob attacks against Lula in Brasilia
President Joe Biden assailed Sunday’s attacks by supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil as “outrageous,” as condemnation poured in from around the world against mobs that smashed their way into the halls of power in Brasilia.
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That one word comment from Biden was his first direct public comment since crowds broke into Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in Brasilia to protest the far-right incumbent’s removal from power after losing his election against leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
As part of an outpouring of support for Lula after the stunning scenes in Brazil’s capital, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez assailed the “coup attempt” by supporters of Bolsonaro.
Fellow South American leaders in Chile, Colombia and Venezuela deplored the mob action, and French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his support for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist who took office as Brazil’s leader a week ago.
“The will of the Brazilian people and the democratic institutions must be respected!” Macron tweeted.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted that Biden “is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering.”
Brazil’s democracy, he added, “will not be shaken by violence.”
The European Union’s top foreign affairs official, Josep Borrell, tweeted that he was “appalled by the acts of violence and illegal occupation of Brasilia’s government quarter by violent extremists today...
“Brazilian democracy will prevail over violence and extremism,” he added.
The Twitter account of Democrats on the US Senate foreign relations committee noted that the Brasilia ransacking came nearly two years to the day after supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, leaving five dead.
“Trump’s legacy continues to poison our hemisphere,” the tweet said.
Around the Western hemisphere, reaction was particularly swift from leaders ideologically akin to Lula.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tweeted: “Lula is not alone, he has the support of the progressive forces of his country, of Mexico, of the American continent and of the world.”
Chilean President Gabriel Boric decried “this cowardly and vile attack on democracy” and said the Lula government has Chile’s “complete backing.”
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, a leftist authoritarian, condemned what he called the “neofascist groups” seeking to unseat Lula.
More condemnation came in from across Latin America.
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel offered solidarity and condemned what he described as anti-democratic acts aimed at “generating chaos and disrespecting the popular will.”
Bolivia’s foreign minister Rogelio Mayta said the events showed that Latin America faces a challenge of “defending our democracies by preventing the triumph of hate speech… fratricidal violence and anti-democratic actions.”
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