Brazil marks the anniversary of the January 8 attack on its capital

The plaza where the violence took place, hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, marked the second anniversary of the attack on government buildings with a celebration.

Lula, who underwent surgery last month to treat brain bleeding, made an appearance at the Three Powers Plaza in the capital Brasilia on Wednesday to denounce the riots from January 8, 2023, which he has described as a coup against his presidency.

In response to the attack, which saw thousands of protesters break into the presidential residence, Supreme Court building, and Congress, he also used the occasion to demonstrate defiance.

“Today is the day to say loud and clear: We’re still here”, Lula told his supporters.

“We’re here to say that we are alive and that democracy is alive, contrary to what the January 8, 2023, coup plotters had planned”.

The attack on January 8 came just seven days after Lula, a left-wing leader, had been inaugurated for a non-consecutive third term.

Lula was not in the presidential palace at the time, nor was Brazil’s Congress in session. However, the attack damaged dozens of law enforcement personnel and protesters, who were also hurt.

Many of the rioters were attempting to erect a military front against Lula’s presidency.

Lula won the run-off election by one of the fewest margins in Brazilian history against current president Jair Bolsonaro in October 2022. Just over 2.1 million votes separated the two candidates.

However, the far-right Bolsonaro refused to publicly acknowledge his defeat following the election because he had been making false accusations long before the election that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.

Bolsonaro supporters squatted through Brazilian police headquarters and blocked highways, which led to widespread protest. A bomb threat in the capital was even reported in the lead-up to the inauguration.

Before Lula took office, Bolsonaro fled the country to Florida. He has since returned to the country, where he faces numerous legal cases and investigations.

Some of his actions relate to the election’s dissemination of false information, as well as his involvement in the 2023 attack.

As retribution for using government resources to stoke distrust in the voting process, Brazil’s electoral court ruled in June 2023 that Bolsonaro could not run for office until 2030.

Federal police also formally charged Bolsonaro and 36 of his allies with conspiring to overturn the election results of 2022 in November 2024. Prosecutor-general Paulo Gonet has yet to decide whether to formally charge the former president.

Other investigations have examined whether Bolsonaro knowingly hid inconsequential information while working or spreading false information during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, on Wednesday, Bolsonaro asserted on social media that United States President-elect Donald Trump had invited him to Washington, DC, for his inauguration on January 20.

According to Bolsonaro, “My lawyer, Dr. Paulo Bueno, has already sent a request to Minister Alexandre de Moraes for me to obtain my passport back so that I can attend this honorable and significant historical event.”