"What Brazil experienced was the ultimate embodiment of Bolsonaro's hatred."
Brazilian trans activist Lana de Holanda analyzes the attempted coup in Brazil.
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The world watched in horror last Sunday as Bolsonaro's coup plotters seized control of Brazil's Congress. Brasília was flooded by thousands of radicalized individuals, dissatisfied with the election results and driven by the collective hatred that their leader, Jair Bolsonaro, has fueled for years.
Palaces were invaded and works of art were damaged or stolen. A trail of destruction was left behind, made all the worse by the fact that it happened on a Sunday, when Brasília's public buildings are practically empty.
What Brazil experienced on January 8th was, until now, the ultimate manifestation of Bolsonaro's hatred. The hatred that has threatened Indigenous peoples since 2018, the hatred that has increased femicide rates, the hatred that has deepened racist violence in the favelas, the hatred that has attacked LGBT+ people in so many ways.
The coup didn't happen, but we must remain vigilant. Not only here in Brazil, but throughout Latin America. Bolsonarism is a Brazilian phenomenon, just as Trumpism is American, but there are similarities across the continent.
Warnings
The horrific scenes witnessed in Brazil should serve as a warning to Argentina, with Javier Milei. They should serve as a warning to Chile, with José Antonio Kast. They should serve as a warning to Uruguay, with Guido Manini Ríos. Bolsonaro, Keiko Fujimori (Peru), and Nayib Bukele (El Salvador) are the pure embodiment of the Latin American far right, with all the class hatred, racism, and gender violence they carry and use as a political banner.
Even in times of crisis, whether economic or political, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay are seen in South America as consolidated democracies. They stand out in the region for their high quality of life and political stability, despite existing and persistent inequalities. However, with far-right governments, everything will worsen for the poorest, for women, for Indigenous peoples, and for sexual and gender dissidents. The far right, so well represented regionally by Bolsonaro, brings with it the worst of neoliberalism, along with deep-seated conservatism and murderous Christian fundamentalism.
Bolsonaro is a representative of death. He denied vaccines to the Brazilian people, even in the midst of a pandemic. He also devastated Indigenous lands and promoted violence against the left and all groups that opposed him. Under his rule, Brazil became a sad and sick country. Institutions were dismantled, Congress became his accomplice, and the only resistance that remained, keeping Brazilian democracy alive, albeit greatly weakened, was the Supreme Court. Brazil didn't die, but it came very close.
Now, these other countries, taking Brazil as an example, cannot fail. The Latin American left needs to understand what we Brazilians took a long time to understand: there is no dialogue with fascism. Once normalized, it will devour everything. It devours social rights, it devours institutions, it devours the joy of a people. It grows, it dominates, it destroys, and it becomes very difficult to eliminate. Milei, Kast, and Manini Ríos must be seen for what they truly are: fascists. And there is no dialogue with fascism. We must fight against fascism.
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