‘Deeply Concerned, Democratic Traditions Must be Respected’: PM Modi on Anti-Govt Mob Attacks in Brazil

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep concerns over reports of rioting in Brazil by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro and asserted democratic traditions must be respected by everyone.

The supporters of far-right leader Bolsonaro who refuse to accept his election defeat stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace in the Brazilian capital on Sunday, a week after the inauguration of his leftist rival, President Luiz In cio Lula da Silva.

“Deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism against the State institutions in Brasilia. Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities,” PM Modi said in a tweet.

Several other world leaders also condemned the move and offered their support to Brazil’s democratic institutions.

US President Joe Biden, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez and South American leaders in Chile, Colombia and Venezuela deplored the mob action.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his support for Lula, the leftist who took office as Brazil’s new president a week ago.

Decked out in the colors of Brazil’s national flag, supporters of vanquished ex-president Jair Bolsonaro smashed windows and sowed destruction as they barged into Congress Sunday clamoring for “military intervention.”

The sea of yellow-and-green clad “bolsonaristas” flooding up the ramps leading to the roof of the modernist Congress building starkly evoked a similar attack: the storming of the US Capitol building in Washington by supporters of then-president Donald Trump — a Bolsonaro ally — almost exactly two years ago.

Some forced their way into the legislative offices of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, leaving defacement in their wake as a mark of hostility to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, inaugurated exactly a week earlier.

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