Chaos in Brasília: Why The Bolsonaristas Can’t Quit, Won’t Quit / Brian Mier

Journalist Brian Mier, co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for teleSUR English, returns to the podcast to discuss the recent chaos in Brazil, days after the inauguration of popular center-left President Lula da Silva.

In previous interviews I've conducted with Brian Mier, I asked him to detail the complex circumstances in Brazil giving rise to far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro and his victory in the 2018 presidential election. Mier's analysis detailed the well-documented consequences of the so-called anti-corruption scandal that led to the ousting of center-left president Dilma Rousseff in 2016, the imprisonment of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva soon after (as well as his eventual release), and finally, the US government's complicity through all of it. 

When the time came late last year for Bolsonaro to run for a second term, Lula stepped in as a contender, and won. Leading up to the vote, Bolsonaro and various far-right actors, many of which are linked to Trump in the US, attempted to delegitimize the results of an election that would result in a Bolsonaro loss, engaging in many of the same tactics Trump and his cohorts used in the lead-up to the 2020 US elections, and beyond. On January 8th of this year, days after Lula was inaugurated, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded government buildings in Brasília, in many ways replicating the chaos of January 6th, 2021 in Washington D.C. in the weeks leading up to the inauguration of Joe Biden.

What are the Bolsonaristas attempting to accomplish? What guides their actions? Why is this event so similar to the infamous chaos at the US Capitol on January 6th? Brian Mier answers these questions, and more, in this interview.

Bio:

Brian Mier is a writer, geographer and development professional who has lived in Brazil for over 20 years. He is a former directorate member of the Fórum Nacional de Reforma Urbana (National Urban Reform Forum), and has lived in São Luis, Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. He is co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for teleSur English's news program From the South, and is the author/co-editor with Daniel Hunt of Year of Lead: Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil.

Episode Notes:

Learn more about Brian and his work at Brasil Wire and FAIR, and support his work on Patreon.