Supporters of defeated President Jair Bolsonaro, who left the country prior to the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, were behind the attacks, with some elements in the security forces standing by and even encouraging rioters.
President Lula has condemned the “incompetence, bad faith or malice” of those elements of the security forces, and a Supreme Court Justice has placed Ibaneis Rocha, the pro-Bolsonaro regional governor responsible for the capital district, under a 90-day suspension.
This latest organised attack on democracy underlines the continuing threat posed by the extreme right, which was highlighted by a special resolution adopted at the 5th ITUC World Congress in November last year.
“The ITUC stood with our unions and workers in Brazil when the far right conspired to stage a constitutional coup in against President Dilma Rousseff and we stood with President Lula when he was unjustly accused of corruption. We stand now with the unions, workers and the people of Brazil in defending their democratically elected government against thuggery and violence,” said ITUC Deputy General Secretary Owen Tudor.
ITUC Brazilian affiliates and TUCA, the ITUC regional organisation, have published these statements on the events in Brasilia:
