A former dictatorship rejected an insurrection more swiftly than the US. Why? | Opinion

Brazil imports more than American music, movies and fast food. Latin America’s largest country has copied American far-right extremism in the form of the ex-president known as the Donald Trump of the Tropics.

The United States had the Jan. 6., 2021, U.S. Capitol riots. Brazil had the Jan. 8, 2023, invasion of its presidential palace, congress and supreme court in Brasilia.

Both mobs were fueled by lies about widespread voter fraud perpetuated by former presidents who lost reelection. Both mobs tried to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power to a new government elected democratically. In Brazil’s case, former President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters wanted the armed forces to stage a coup a la 1964, a military takeover that began two decades of dictatorship.

With the recent anniversaries of both attacks, it’s striking how different the aftermaths have been in each country, as a recent story by the New York Times explained. Larger numbers of Brazilians reject the attacks than Americans. The courts have barred Bolsonaro from running again until 2030, whereas Trump leads polls in the Republican primary and even in a potential matchup with President Biden.

There are many Brazilians who still believe, without evidence, the elections were stolen, and online misinformation is rampant. But the country’s top leaders and institutions, such as the courts, acted swiftly to accept the 2022 election results that put a former president, Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, back in office.

In the U.S., hours after rioters stormed the Capitol chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” many Republicans still voted against certifying the election results. In fact, 171 members of Congress — including 60% of Florida’s delegation — are election deniers, according to a study by the nonpartisan group States United. That’s more than a third of both chambers of Congress and includes the House speaker.

Many of those same elected officials will be charged with certifying the 2024 election results next year. If Trump is indeed the Republican nominee and loses, there is a possibility they might try to reverse his loss.

American democracy is almost 250 years old. Brazil’s modern democracy is not even 40.

I don’t mean to downplay the threat that extremism still represents to Brazil. Like the U.S., this is a country bitterly divided. Bolsonaro allies continue to downplay Jan. 8 and conspiracy theories about a leftist infiltration during the attack abound online. But only 6% of Brazilians support the Jan. 8 attacks whereas 22% of Americans support the Jan. 6 riot, according to separate polls published in the past week.

The point isn’t that Brazil, a nation plagued by systemic corruption, is an example for the rest of the world, though it’s remarkable how it survived the first major test to its institutions. It’s worth noting that Brazil and the U.S. have different media, court and political landscapes that shaped the responses to each attack.

The bottom line is that these recent parallels between the U.S. — “the shining city on a hill,” as Ronald Reagan famously said — and a country where many citizens remember what it’s like to not enjoy civil liberties like free speech should be concerning to Americans.

Perhaps we have grown accustomed to the absurdity of Trump’s rhetoric but it is troubling when the leading Republican presidential candidate calls arrested Jan. 6 rioters “hostages” and demands the release of people accused or convicted of crimes. Does it feel like we live in the world’s greatest democracy when another presidential hopeful says on the debate stage that Jan. 6 looks like an “inside job,” as Vivek Ramaswamy has done?

American institutions faltered but did not crumble after Jan. 6. I do not join the chorus of liberals who believe America in 2024 resembles Germany in the 1930s. But the U.S. — and yes, Brazil, given how recently Jan. 8 took place — is experiencing a normalization of extremist rhetoric and actions. No good can come from it.

Isadora Rangel is a member of the Herald Editorial Board.

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