In Brazil, on January 8, barely a week after the inauguration of leftist President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, the country’s democratic institutions were victims of the most serious attack against them since the end of the military dictatorship. in the country.
Hundreds of thousands of the far-right ex-president’s most radical supporters, who still refuse to accept his defeat, invade Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court, in what appears to be a desperate coup attempt of state. They had camped for months outside the army headquarters in Brasilia and several other major Brazilian cities, begging for their help.
Who are they ? How vast disinformation campaigns on social networks pushed them to invade the highest democratic authorities? Report from Brasilia.
Wanted for terrorism
On the outskirts of the Three Powers Square where the invasion of democratic institutions took place, Beto Rossi, a taxi driver from the south of the country says: he had been camping in front of the army headquarters in Brasilia for two months. “I was part of this action on January 8th. I did a live inside the Planalt presidential palaceo.”
He has been wanted since January 8 for terrorist acts. If he agrees to answer openly, it’s because 24 hours after our shoot, he flew to a neighboring country. For our appointment, no address was given in advance. We find him in a place at the exit of the city. “I was on adrenaline. We followed the movement, we followed these people who had gathered but I didn’t destroy anything, I didn’t touch anything. The army betrayed us and sold out to Lula that day…“
With his compatriots he dreamed of an intervention by the army which will never have happened… Convinced that his country is going through a communist coup d’etat, Beto sees himself coming back only in the event of Lula’s departure: “We will manage to get the thief impeached, and then we will get (Geraldo) Alckmin, the vice-president, who is even worse. “
Just like Beto, 449 new people were charged with the January 8 attacks. Juan, a fervent defender of Bolsonaro, is also wanted for terrorism, he too left the country the day after our meeting. On January 8, he filmed the entire invasion live: “I received many threats… People were threatening me and saying that I would be imprisoned, that I would pay for it.“
Joao assures that his friends did not destroy anything on the spot and that it was leftist infiltrators who actually broke everything: “When the heist started, we were still at the station. And the damage had already started inside.“
Conspiracy and social networks
Conspiracy theories that this young woman does not believe: Luisa is the daughter of a pro-Bolsonaro protester. If Luisa doesn’t want to show her face, it’s because her mother is threatening to throw her out on the street. On January 8, she went there to prevent him from participating in the assault… Without success: “I was very afraid“.
His mother only got information via Bolsonarist social networks: “She wanted to sell our house because according to her the government was going to seize her apartment to put lots of people inside. It’s a cult, a real brainwashing. These people take advantage of other people’s desperation.”
1,406 people from 25 different states are currently detained. Thousands of others are still wanted, demonstrators, organizers, but also the police suspected of collusion.
