One year after the assault in Brasilia, the country remains on the edge of democracy

One more year, a different country. This Monday two objects vandalized during one of Brazil's darkest modern episodes will return to their home: a tapestry made by renowned artist Burle Marx and a replica of the country's 1988 Constitution.

On January 8, 2023, the eyes of the world watched as hundreds of followers of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the government buildings in the capital, Brasilia. The Bolsonaro supporters asked for the intervention of the army to prevent a third term for the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva. The action, seen by them as a social claim, was considered an “attempted coup d'état” and generated the rejection of various governments around the world.

That day, important government structures such as the headquarters of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidency, suffered serious damage. In addition to destroying windows, chairs and desks, the tapestry was damaged and the replica of the Constitution stolen.

Lula da Silva announced on Tuesday the celebration of an event in Brasilia called 'Unbreakable Democracy' on January 8 to “remember” the first anniversary of the riot. “We are going to commemorate the coup attempt of January 8, revealed by the democracy of this country.” She invited “all governors, deputies, senators and businessmen to reaffirm the importance of the democratic regime as the only guarantee of certainty,” she said.

Brazil's Chamber of Deputies will open a commemorative exhibition to remember the assault. The exhibition seeks to reflect the events that marked the first anniversary of this event that shook the country's institutions.

In the exhibition there will be 30 photographs taken that day by officials and reporter Jédson Álvez that documented the invasion of Congress and the destruction that followed. Likewise, there will be several restored objects, such as vases and sculptures that were displayed in the Green Room on the day of the assault.

Supreme Court judges initially expressed concern that the replica of the Constitution may have been stolen, following footage of a Bolsonaro supporter carrying it out of the building. However, days after the insurrection, the authentic piece was found hidden in one of the building's museums.

Days after the assault, on January 13, the document was returned by the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, to the president of the Supreme Court, Judge Rosa Weber.

From 2,170 to 66 detainees

In response to the assault, on January 9, authorities detained 2,170 people in Brasilia. Starting in February, the Supreme Court granted provisional release to most of the detainees. There are currently only 66 people behind bars. Of them, eight have been convicted, 33 are accused of being “executors” of the coup – two of them are in a psychiatric hospital – and 25 face accusations related to the alleged financing or incitement of the coup.

Last September 14, the Supreme Court issued its first ruling in relation to a former official of the São Paulo water company. He received a 17-year prison sentence for five crimes, including the violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law and the attempted coup. Since that time, the court has convicted a total of 30 people, imposing sentences ranging from 3 to 17 years in prison.

The expeditious processing of the trials against the Bolsonaro supporters responsible for the chaos in Brasilia contrasts with the continuous police investigation into the financiers of the events. 'Operation Lesa Patria', with 367 searches in search of evidence, focuses on key figures such as Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro's former Minister of Justice, and Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid, former aide-de-camp of the former president.

Although both were in prison, today they are free, while Bolsonaro appears under investigation. The question about the possible role of the far-right leader, present in the United States on January 8, still persists.

In parallel, Bolsonarism is working in Congress to promote an amnesty that would benefit those involved. In addition, those investigated created the Association of Relatives and Victims of January 8. Ezequiel Silveira, the association's lawyer, denounces alleged violations of due legal process and took his complaints to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, reiterating his thesis that the coup is an invented “narrative.”

A divided country

Despite this, the country is still recovering from an episode that some say they are proud of. Many Bolsonaristas believe that the riots were actually led by the current Administration and its supporters. Bolsonaro made the same claim in an interview on Saturday.

“There was a little bit of everything. There were people demanding their rights. There were people infiltrated,” says Rio businessman Pablo Diniz, 44 years old. “I am a patriot. I also took to the streets (on January 8), peacefully. I was there to fight for democracy for all,” he adds.

According to the pollster Quaest, 89% of Brazilian citizens perceive the events of January 8 unfavorably. Approximately 47% of respondents believe that Bolsonaro was in some way involved in the riots. These results are derived from a survey of 2,012 people between December 14 and 18, with a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

Last year, a court issued a ban preventing Bolsonaro from running for public office again until 2030, in a case not linked to the unrest but related to his unfounded allegations about alleged manipulation of the electronic voting system in the previous presidential elections.

Despite this restriction, his far-right base maintains a significant presence in the streets and is willing to challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“Brazilian society still does not know how to handle what happened, there is no consensus,” says Creomar de Souza, founder of the political risk consultancy Dharma Politics. “Brazilian society is now at opposite extremes. And parts of those opposites are in a place that cannot be reconciled with each other,” he adds.

According to De Souza, the establishment's prompt reaction to the riots was due to pre-existing tensions between Bolsonaro and other authorities, especially the justices of the Supreme Court, before the 2022 presidential elections. The analyst warns that this does not mean a full restoration of democratic normality in the country.

After the events of January 8, the Brazilian Senate paid about $40,000 to recover the tapestry made in 1973, which was stained with urine and torn to pieces. Although the fabric and replica of the Magna Carta could be recovered, confidence in a democratic future is still wavering.

With AP