Monday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of brazil to demonstrate their support for democracy. the rallies were held a week after president luiz inácio lula da silva was sworn in following the october election, and president lula visited the damaged buildings of congress, the presidential palace and supreme court. jair bolsonaro had flown to the us before the handover on 1 january and was admitted to hospital in florida with abdominal pain. the unified voice of the crowd could be heard chanting “no amnesty for the coup mongers” and “prison for bolsonaro”.
Demonstrations took place in cities across the country, with an impressive turnout reported in são paulo by bbc correspondent katy watson. president lula da silva declared a state of emergency and deployed the military to keep order in brasília. supporters of brazil’s president jair bolsonaro set up camps to call for the military to intervene and ensure fair elections they believed had been stolen, as well as pushing for the return of president luiz inácio lula da silva to prison.
Events have been compared to the storming of the us capitol by supporters of donald trump in january 2021, and leaders from around the world have condemned the violence. us president joe biden recently voiced the united states’ “unwavering support for brazil’s democracy” to lula during a phone call. the street rallies witnessed the unified voice of brazilians calling for democracy, and the rallies were a result of the conviction of lula in 2017 and his subsequent sentence to more than nine years in jail before his convictions were annulled.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-64219119?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
