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At that time, both were still in office: Donald Trump at a meeting with Jair Bolsonaro in March 2020 in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida
Photo: Tom Brenner / REUTERS
On January 8, hundreds of supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the government building in Brasília.
They invaded Congress, the Supreme Court and the Government Palace, smashed windows, destroyed artwork, set fires, beat up police officers and attacked journalists.
They left behind images of massive destruction — no doubt reminiscent of those of January 6, 2021, the day the Capitol was stormed in Washington.
The parallels between the two events extend far beyond these images.
Brazilian investigative journalist Natália Viana has been researching the connections between the Bolsonaro family and alt-right networks in the US for years.
She evaluates data from social media and analyzes fake news campaigns.
In the interview, she explains how "Trump's script" was copied from the stolen election in Brazil, who is behind the January 8 uprising, and warns that Trump's "big lie" could become a threat to democracy around the world.
SPIEGEL:
What connects January 8, 2023 in Brazil with the storming of the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021?
Natalia Viana:
We are talking about two attempts to undermine democracy, two attempted coups.
It's about the two largest democracies in America.
Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro copied exactly the same tactics used by Donald Trump.
One can even speak of a screenplay.
This script begins well before the elections.
Bolsonaro has fueled doubts about the electoral system for at least a year.
Like Trump, he has promoted the idea that cheating is to be expected and that he would only concede defeat if it were 100 percent fair.
He has tasked the army with overseeing the election.
Even before the election, his supporters were convinced that it would be “stolen”.
After the election, Bolsonaro remained silent for 44 hours before refusing to admit defeat.
Trump was more direct and blunt in his statements, Bolsonaro more cautious: he sent ambivalent messages, spoke of a "sense of injustice" that his fans felt, posted things on social media that his supporters could interpret as support for their protests.
Like Trump, in the run-up to the events in January, Bolsonaro then began to say that large demonstrations were to be expected.
SPIEGEL:
Did Bolsonaro simply imitate Trump or did they exchange ideas?
Viana:
We know that the Bolsonaro family is in close contact with important alternative right figures in the United States.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, the youngest son of the ex-president, was on January 6, 2021
most likely in Washington.
He has met with key figures in the Trump campaign more than 77 times over the past four years, including Steve Bannon, ex-Trump adviser, as well as Jason Miller, Trump's ex-spokesman and CEO of far-right social media platform Gettr , and Matthew Tyrmand, who is a member of the right-wing organization Project Veritas.
Eduardo Bolsonaro has held conservative conferences in Brazil, to which some of these people have flown, and is the Latin American representative of Bannon's right-wing international network, The Movement.
SPIEGEL:
But it never really picked up speed.
Viana:
It hasn't really taken off as The Movement, but it's perfectly clear that there is an international alliance of right-wingers colluding and pushing their interests forward.
Just before the election, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Junior, Victor Orbán and Ted Cruz all recorded videos for social media in support of Bolsonaro.
The Bolsonaro family has expended much energy in recent years building connections with people in the US who promote far-right conspiracy theories such as the threat of communism and cultural Marxism.
We know these people are in close contact with each other and we see Bolsonaro repeating Trump's actions.
This is no coincidence, this is an alliance.
People like Bannon are political actors, they give advice and devise strategies.
Bannon has even publicly stated that he is helping the Bolsonaros.
What is happening now in Brazil is covered in his fingerprints.
SPIEGEL:
Can you explain that in more detail?
Viana:
I can't show you a contract that shows Bolsonaro hired Bannon as an agent.
There won't be.
Things are different today: Two hours after the election result, Bannon said in his podcast that Bolsonaro should not admit defeat.
And Bolsonaro did just that. Bannon coined the term “Brazilian Spring” when Bolsonaro's first supporters blocked roads in Brazil.
The demonstrations got bigger;
Thousands camped outside military installations for months.
And they use the hashtag #BrazilianSpring.
This is how digital populism works today: what is said creates what happens.
And what's happening is represented as bigger, and that makes it bigger.
It's a cycle.
Bolsonaro has always governed like this, creating movements out of thin air.
SPIEGEL:
But that also requires people who take to the streets and allow themselves to be mobilized.
What other personalities contributed to casting doubt on the Brazilian election?
Viana:
After the election in Brazil, it was the same figures who made the allegations of the stolen election big in the US who did the same for Brazil, for example Jason Miller and Ali Alexander, the man who launched the 'Stop the Steal «-had organized demonstrations;
he even talked about a military intervention in Brazil.
Fox News' Tucker Carlson also claimed there was voter fraud.
These are only the most prominent voices.
SPIEGEL:
Various polls show that around a quarter to even a third of Brazilians believe the election was stolen and support military intervention.
The New York Times called January 8 an attempted coup by "mass delusion."
Viana:
The new way of destroying democracies and staging a coup in the 21st century works with disinformation and people who spread lies.
It's inexpensive, quick and easy.
In the 1960s, you would have had to buy three major newspapers and a television station to attempt such a thing.
Today you don't even have to travel to Brazil.
You can start a coup d'etat in another country from your home office, via social media.
And that's why it's so hard to prove.
You will not find any document ordering the army to overthrow the government.
SPIEGEL:
Investigations against Jair Bolsonaro have now been initiated.
Was he directly involved in the events of January 8th?
Viana:
Apparently there is not enough evidence to extradite Bolsonaro to Brazil.
We are faced here with the same problem that exists with Trump in the USA.
Everything Bolsonaro said was precisely designed to allow him to deny any involvement;
that he cannot be blamed for encouraging people, that he cannot be blamed for it.
Trump did exactly the same thing: On January 6, 2021, he didn't say, "Burst the Capitol!" He said things like, "I know you're here to make your voice heard, to represent the will of the people .' This is baiting without being obvious baiting.
And while his supporters stormed Brasília, on his social media channel Bolsonaro TV – I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's the way these people do politics these days – Bolsonaro posted the Lord's Prayer in Latin, sending a message that went something like this: "I pray for you".
This is a sign to his fans.
In the middle of the night, he recently retweeted someone else's post on Twitter that Lula didn't win the election but was only installed by the Supreme Court.
After three hours he deleted the tweet.
There was just enough time for him to be photographed and distributed, but Bolsonaro was not in danger of being blocked on Twitter.
This is how these people manipulate the masses using digital marketing methods.
SPIEGEL:
Which channels played the most important role in spreading fake news in the run-up to January 8 in Brazil?
Viana:
Each channel has its own role.
Twitter is big in Brazil, broadcast popular rights on YouTube, and with Jovem
Pan, we also have a kind of Brazilian Fox News.
However, the most important places for the spread of disinformation are WhatsApp and Telegram groups.
This is where the uprising was organized.
Everything was orchestrated, there were contacts for different states and cities, and there were rides on buses.
They arranged to meet at »Selma's party« in Brasília.
It was a play on words.
Selma stands for »Selva«, jungle, a word associated with the military in Brazil.
In these groups, sabotage and terrorism could be discussed openly.
They are very difficult to control.
Some only existed for a few days.
The code word "Selma's party" also popped up on Twitter and even on social media in Miami and Texas.
Everything was pretty blunt and obvious.
The authorities could have stopped the whole thing if they had wanted to.
SPIEGEL:
Who organized and financed the uprising?
Viana:
We know that smaller companies from Santa Catarina, Parana and Matto Grosso have been funding the protests for some time.
Brazil's Attorney General's Office has now requested that the funds of around a hundred companies be frozen, many of them apparently linked to the agricultural business.
SPIEGEL:
So there was no direct financing from abroad?
Viana:
I don't think that huge amounts have flowed in from abroad.
Political coup advice was exported.
And that knowledge is valuable.
SPIEGEL:
You warn that Trump's "big lie" could become a new global norm and thus a global threat to democracy.
Are there any other examples?
Viana:
What is happening in the US is quickly becoming a model for other countries.
For example, after the first round of the presidential election in Colombia, a conservative ex-president cast doubt on the result, and figures from the Spanish right-wing party Vox helped spread the word.
In Chile, too, we have observed some such fake news appearing in the context of the constitutional referendum.
I am very sure that in the future we will see more right-wing politicians who do not accept defeat and claim that the results are fraudulent.
They now see the big lie as a legitimate political strategy.
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