Lula Has the Upper Hand After Last Sunday’s Riot of Bolsonaro Supporters
Bolsonaro supporters’ January 8 riot has left the Brazilian right divided over how to respond to the antidemocratic attacks. And that’s put Lula in a stronger position to shore up Brazil’s democracy.
Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a meeting with governors at Planalto Palace in Brasilia on January 9, 2023. (Mateus Bonomi / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The trashing of Brazilian government buildings by reactionary zealots on January 8 looks to be a political disaster for the country’s right wing. It is still early, but one indication that the coup attempt will not ultimately boost the anti-Lula opposition, as some have worried, is the lack of a coordinated response among those who supported former president Jair Bolsonaro in the recent election.
The disorganized medley of talking points on the Right suggests that it has no unified reaction to what happened. As a result, Lula — and Brazilian democracy — could actually emerge from this ordeal in a stronger position.
Aside from absurd conspiracy theories that hardly merit a rebuttal (like the notion that the outburst was instigated by left-wing infiltrators), there are three types of reactions that have emerged on the Right:
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