The Biden administration on Sunday accused Brazilian protesters of breaching the security blockade and invading the country’s parliament, presidential palace and Supreme Court.
“Using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable. [President Luiz Inacio Lula Silva] I urge an immediate cessation of these actions,” Secretary of State Anthony Brinken wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
White House Assistant Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden, who visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, said, “We are monitoring the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering. Islam will not be shaken by violence,” he said.
Video and photos from the scene in the country’s capital, Brasilia, showed protesters destroying the furniture of the Congress and Supreme Court inside the presidential palace. It was showing how it was. Reports say Lula, who took office on January 1, was not there, but few officials were working in the Brazilian Congress and Supreme Court on Sunday.
At about 5:30 p.m. local time, less than three hours after the attack, security forces appeared to regain control of the presidential palace and the area around the Supreme Court, but thousands of protesters turned up around the parliament. and stayed on the roof.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro, who flew to the United States ahead of Lula’s inauguration, has not commented on Sunday’s events. His social media channels of his three congressional sons have also gone silent.
Federal District Governor Ibanez Rocha confirmed on Twitter that he has fired Anderson Torres, the capital’s chief of public safety.
Bolsonaro’s supporters have been protesting Lula’s election victory since October 30, blocking roads, gathering outside military buildings and calling for military intervention. Many of them argued that the election results were fraudulent or unreliable.
Videos on social media showed the limited presence of gendarmes in the capital. Some showed police officers waiting for people to flood the parliament, and some used mobile phones to record the images. The capital’s Security Bureau did not immediately issue an official comment on the relative absence of police.
Aside from the White House, other world leaders similarly condemned the protests and violations of three government buildings.
“Attempted coup by Brazilian conservatives, prompted by the leaders of the oligarchy, their spokespersons and fanatics, is reprehensible and undemocratic. Lula is not alone. It has the support of progressive powers in the country, Mexico, the Americas and the world,” said Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“The Peruvian government vigorously condemns attacks on the parliamentary headquarters, the presidential palace, the Brazilian Supreme Court, and attempts to defy the legitimacy of the October 2022 elections. solidarity,” Peru’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
The Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “rejects the recent acts of violence against the democratic institutions of the Federative Republic of Brazil and reiterates its support for the Brazilian brothers and the democratically elected President Lula da Silva”. said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jack Phillips is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in New York. He covers breaking news.