By Carmen Sesin and Isabela Espadas Barros Leal -
NBC News
MIAMI — A day after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in Brazil, Vitor Spier, who lives in Orlando, Florida, condemned the violence in his native country.
But Spier, a Bolsonaro supporter who believes Brazil's recent election was rigged, said he was "waiting" for some response from the former president's supporters.
[Biden is pressured to expel Bolsonaro from the US after the coup attack in Brazil]
“We don't believe he won by the will of the people,” Spier said, referring to the new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula.
Spier's view echoes what Bolsonaro and many of his allies have said since they lost the controversial presidential runoff on October 30, alleging voter fraud and rigged elections.
The expectation of violence in his home country was shared by Brazilian-Americans who oppose Bolsonaro.
Lula da Silva describes the destruction caused by the protests in Brazil as "abominable"
Jan 9, 202302:41
“This is not a surprise to anyone,” said Alinio Azevedo, a Brazilian who lives in Aspen, Colorado.
“Bolsonaro has been talking about this for months.
It was totally avoidable,” he opined.
Bolsonaro is in Orlando, where he has supporters among the state's growing number of Brazilian-Americans.
Florida is home to large numbers of Latin American expatriates, including many who support center-right politics and have gravitated toward the Republican Party — which has cultivated this growing voting bloc.
Florida is a permissive environment, especially for the former president, according to Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society.
“It's a very common place where Latin Americans are generally welcome and feel comfortable,” he explained.
[“It's something sad”: outrage in Brazil over the acts of vandalism by radicalized Bolsonarists]
Bolsonaro was recently hospitalized in the Orlando area, according to a statement from his wife on Instagram.
His supporters had been gathering outside the home of retired Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter José Aldo, where Bolsonaro is believed to be staying, to express their support.
In a video posted on YouTube, Orlando real estate agent Ricardo Molina filmed what appeared to be the former president leaving the house to greet supporters ahead of Lula's inauguration.
Molina did not respond to a request for comment, and Noticias Telemundo's sister network NBC News has not verified Bolsonaro's whereabouts.
Former ties to Trump and his allies
After the angry mob of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court, many are drawing parallels between what happened in Brazil and the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot in the US. they are focusing on the long relationship between Bolsonaro and his family and former US President Donald Trump, as well as his former adviser and political strategist, Steve Bannon.
Biden condemns the "assault on democracy" in Brazil and offers his support to Lula
Jan 9, 202300:29
After Bolsonaro's defeat, unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud began to emerge in Brazil, reminiscent of those in the United States.
Following the riots on Sunday, Bannon shared a video on the far-right social media platform Gettr showing protesters pouring into the Congress building and calling them "Brazilian freedom fighters."
[Bolsonaro does not recognize his electoral defeat against Lula but points out that he will allow the democratic transition of power in Brazil]
Bannon also falsely posted that “Lula stole the Elections” repeatedly.
Bannon had said before the Brazilian elections that Bolsonaro would only lose if "the machines" stole the election.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president's son who is also a congressman, has met with Trump and Bannon numerous times since his father took office in 2019.
Facing the presidential elections in Brazil, Trump's allies exported many of the former president's campaign strategies to the Latin American country.
At a Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) conference in Brazil in 2021, guests included Donald Trump Jr. and Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Speakers attacked the press and branded their rivals criminals and communists.
Eduardo Bolsonaro gave a presentation on voter fraud in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in August 2021, at an event hosted by Mike Lindell, the pillow executive and one of the leading voices on Trump's false claims that the election 2020 presidential elections were rigged.
Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invade the National Congress in Brasilia, on January 8, 2023.Sergio Lima / AFP via Getty Images
Eduardo Bolsonaro was cheered on by Lindell and Bannon as he spoke about voter fraud, conspiracy theories and the fake news media.
Following Bolsonaro's defeat in October, tens of thousands of supporters began camping outside military installations across Brazil to protest his defeat.
Meanwhile, Eduardo Bolsonaro, visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
He and other members of Bolsonaro's inner circle have consulted with Trump allies to map out a strategy, harnessing the energy of his father's supporters.
[Bolsonaro challenges the results of the elections he lost to Lula and demands that votes be annulled]
Trump has not responded to the attack in the Brazilian capital.
There were other similarities to the events leading up to January 6.
Laura Pereira, a Brazilian researcher focused on social media and the internet, noted that the protesters mainly used WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube to organize and finance the uprising.
Pelé is fired to the rhythm of samba and batucada in the streets of Brazil
Jan 3, 202303:16
"Digital media were used to organize and carry out the actions, not just to share misinformation," Pereira explained.
“It is like an ecosystem of information about the need to act in Brasilia, to [steal] power, defend Bolsonaro's agenda and rebel against democracy,” he added.
“Disinformation was a growing part of our election,” he said, calling it a “challenge regarding democracy and the internet in general.”
Parallels to January 6 with an important distinction
There is a fundamental difference between the riots in Brazil and those of January 6, according to Bruna Santos, senior adviser at the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington, DC think tank.
“The main one is timing.
The Capitol attack had the definite goal of obstructing Joe Biden's inauguration to prevent his victory from becoming a foregone conclusion,” Santos recalled.
In Brazil, by contrast, all the deadlines (declaration of results, oath, inauguration) had elapsed before the riots broke out.
“It implies that the possibility of a successful coup at this time is much more remote,” Santos said, “as demonstrated by the rapid reaction of the world community.”
[Pelé, the 'King of Soccer', dies at the age of 82 in Brazil after a month hospitalized for complications with colon cancer]
For Farnsworth, the timing of the riot showed that it was not about getting Bolsonaro to return to Brazil.
“I don't think Bolsonaro has an interest in doing that.
That's why he went to Florida,” he noted.
“They are more interested in not allowing Lula to take power.
And if that's the case, then we have a real problem," Farnsworth said of the implications for the new president.
Approximately 1,500 protesters have been detained since Sunday, and it is considered the worst attack on democracy in the country in almost 40 years.
Those who predicted the violence say the police should have done more to prevent it.
Brazil's Supreme Court ruled on Sunday that Ibaneis Rocha, governor of the Federal District where the capital is located, was suspended in the wake of the violence.
“Everybody knew this was a possibility.
Why didn't the [Federal District] police department do anything to stop it?” Azevedo wondered.
“There are open conversations on social media that they have come together to do it,” he said.