Brazil: Germany condemns riots as 'assault on democracy'
January 9, 2023
The German chancellor on Monday strongly criticized the storming of government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Thousands of supporters of Bolsonaro — who lost Brazil's presidential election in October — stormed Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace and ransacked the buildings.
What did Berlin say?
In a tweet on Monday morning, Chancellor Olaf Scholz decried the "terrible images" out of Brazil.
"The violent attacks on the democratic institutions are an assault on democracy that cannot be tolerated," Scholz said in a tweet.
The chancellor added that Germany stood behind Brazil's newly-elected president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also expressed Germany's support for the new government.
"What happened in Brasilia was a cowardly and violent attack on democracy," she wrote on Twitter.
How have other leaders reacted?
The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell offered his support to Lula as well as the institutions that had come under attack.
"Appalled by the acts of violence and illegal occupation of Brasilia's government quarter by violent extremists today," Borrell tweeted.
"Full support to Lula and his government, to Congress and to the Federal Supreme Court. Brazilian democracy will prevail over
violence and extremism."
The Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro said the actions were "inexcusable and fascist in nature."
"We condemn the attack on the institutions in Brasilia, which constitutes a reprehensible action and a direct attack on democracy."
US President Joe Biden called the riots an assault on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil and said he looked forward to working with Lula. He also discussed the unrest in a phone call with Lula on Monday, and invited the Brazilian leader to visit him next month.
"President Biden conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazil's democracy," the White House said in a statement.
The US, Canada and Mexico all condemned the Bolsonaro supporters' attack "on Brazil's democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power."
In a trilateral meeting in Mexico City on Monday, US President Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said their governments supported "the free will of the people of Brazil."
"We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions," they said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the Brazilian president could count on the "unfailing support" of Paris.
"The will of the Brazilian people and the democratic institutions must be respected," he said.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he condemned any attempt to undermine the democratic will of the people of Brazil. Sunak said Lula and his government had "the United Kingdom's full support."
Moscow said it backed Brazil's newly inaugurated president. "We condemn in the strongest terms the actions of the instigators of the riots and we fully support Brazil's President Lula da Silva," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
China's foreign ministry also reacted, saying it supported the measures taken by the Brazilian government to calm the situation.
"China closely follows and firmly opposes the violent attack on the federal authority in Brazil on January 8," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.
Edited by: Rebecca Staudenmaier