Thank you.
Geoff: Good evening, and well
assault on Latin America's
largest democracy in decades.
Amna: Supporters storm the
capital demanding the military
takeover and evicting the
current leader.
Today bolsonaro, who is
currently in Florida, was
admitted to the hospital.
Nick schifrin begins our
coverage.
Nick in Brazil's capital today,
: Riot police showed up in force
and sent in the cavalry to try
to
dismantle the movement fueled by
former president Jair bolsonaro.
Yesterday they launched a
frontal assault on Brazil's
democracy.
They rampaged through congress,
hoping to reinstall bolsonaro.
They assaulted the presidential
palace
and occupied it, hoping the
military would overthrow new
inhabitant, president Luiz
Inacio Lula da silva.
They assaulted police officers
who tried to resist.
And they ransacked the supreme
court and stole an official
chair and a symbol of the state.
Two years and two days since the
January 6 attacks in Washington,
the echoes were overt -- a
violent attempt to undo an
election, in the name of a
losing candidate who claimed
fraud.
>> Military intervention is what
we're asking for.
Period.
There is no going back.
We're not leaving here.
Nick they kept it up, even as
: They were arrested.
>> This is an injustice.
There are no criminals here.
We were just protesting, we want
to save the country.
Nick: Authorities blamed public
security officials, and ousted
Brasilia's governor and the head
of the capital's security.
President Lula, called the
rioters fanatic fascists who
committed terrorist acts.
>> They will all pay with the
force of law for this
irresponsible, undemocratic
gesture, this gesture of vandals
and fascists.
Nick: Bolsonaro never accepted
defeat in October's election,
but did not try to stop
transition.
Yesterday he tweeted, peaceful
demonstrations are part of
democracy, but violence such as
that occurred today escape the
rule.
Bolsonaro remains in Florida on
a Visa he obtained while still
president.
Today the state department
suggested he would need to leave
or apply for a new Visa within
30 days.
>> It would be incumbent on the
Visa holder to take that action,
either to depart the united
States, or request that change
that status.
Nick: The U.S. Also promises to
cooperate with any Brazilian
request for assistance in its
investigation, and reply to any
Brazilian extradition request.
To discuss this more, I'm joined
by Gustavo flores-macias,
professor of government and
public policy and associate vice
provost for international
affairs at Cornell university.
Thanks very much, welcome to the
newshour.
Elsinore has been saying the
election is rigged.
He's been calling for his
supporters to take over
congress, to take over the
supreme court.
Was yesterday a culmination of
his efforts to delegitimize his
own defeat?
>> I think that's right.
I think yesterday showed the
danger of undermining the
credibility of the elections.
We've seen this in the U.S. And
we are sealing it in Brazil.
It's clear that to a large
sector, Lula is not the
legitimate leader.
After the first round of
election, and even after the
second round, what we're seeing
is a direct response to that.
Trust in elections is very
difficult to rebuild.
I think this will take quite a
bit of time for Brazil to
recover.
>> In this country would talk
about how Donald Trump is no
longer president, but his ideas
are part of the mainstream.
Are his ideas here to stay in
Brazil?
>> I think that's right.
One way we will see this idea
secure is through congress.
There will be a strong,
conservative sector, a strong
right wing contingent of parties
in congress.
It will be difficult for
president Lula to cover it
without filling these positions
to some extent.
>> The challenges to these put
pain and pressure on the -- it
appeared yesterday the
institutions help.
Can they?
Continue to hold in Brazil?
>> It has been an important test
for Brazil's democratic
institutions.
I think the pressures will
continue throughout the Lula
administration.
If anything, they might become
more frequent.
It will be important to see what
the new administration does to
address and make sure there is
punishment so that this doesn't
happen again.
Otherwise, supporters of
bolsonaro might be emboldened in
their attempts toward more
drastic measures in the future.
What we saw yesterday is that
the specter of a military coup
may be alive and well in Brazil.
What we saw is that a lot of
these people participating in
the riots were very outspoken in
terms of inviting the military
into try to resolve the
situation.
Nick: It seems that in the past,
Brazil has tolerated some of the
extreme right.
Could this bring Brasilia to do
more to?
Reign it in >> In the eyes of
some sectors in Brazil society,
the far right are playing with
fire.
It may be that perhaps they're
willing to accommodate the
sector even more and now they
may not be able to tolerate
this.
There was an intense military --
hopefully in congress and the
new administration they will
have little tolerance for that
and that will resonate in the
sectors of society that used to
tolerate these actions and they
will hopefully have little
tolerance for that in the
future.
Nick: We have seen strains on
other democracies.
We are also seeing rising
polarization.
How important is Brazil's
internal response to democracy?
>> Priscilla's not only a
regional leader, it is important
what Brazil does.
With think of just Latin America
in general come places like Peru
or Ecuador where there's a lot
of political friction and
instability right now.
It is important for
democratically elected
governments around the region to
close ranks and expressed
support for president Lula to
make sure this doesn't happen
again in Brazil or anywhere
else.
>> How significant is this in
the global context of right-wing
populism and threats to
democracy?
>> We see that right-wing
parties, especially extreme
right wing parties around the
world, or adopting some of the
tactics and strategies we have
seen in the U.S., and places
like Spain, adopting a lot of
the same slogans.
We are likely to see more of it,
not less.
As long as polarization
continues to increase around the
world, were likely to continue
to see these situations.
>> Thank you very much.
Amna: The white house now says
that the president spoke with
Lula to express support and
agreed Lula would visit in
February.