Monday open thread: When America sneezes, the world catches a cold
Yesterday, two years and two days after Donald Trump's followers mounted an insurrection, the followers of Jair Bolsonaro, the recently-defeated president of Brazil and the "Brazilian Donald Trump", stormed the Congress building and presidential mansion in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.
Bolsonaro, surely fearing arrest from the government of new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has been living in exile in Florida for a few weeks.
I have no doubt that Bolsonaro sounded out the military on the possibility of a coup d'etat in the days after his defeat, when he went silent and refused to either concede or acknowledge the result. And it seems that at that time the military advised Bolsonaro that it would not overthrow the election for him.
There are some indications that this storming of the capital city was orchestrated from Florida. If the Brazilian judiciary—which is no friend to the former president—receives firm evidence of this, it will issue an arrest warrant for him. And the United States has an extradition treaty with Brazil. If in the next few days Bolsonaro appears in a friendly country such as Russia, we will know his role in this insurrection.
In the 19th century, the old saw was that when France sneezed, Europe caught a cold. What happened in France, due to its power and central cultural position, affected the rest of the Continent, and thus the world, a world coming under European domination.
Now much the same can be said about the US. It has been true since the end of the Second World War. Almost a century later and, try as other powers might, no state has the reach and influence of the US. This state of affairs is both for good and ill. The political revival of the far right in this country over the past two decades has given aid and comfort to authoritarians the world over, from Vladimir Putin to Viktor Orbán. Bolsonaro was another authoritarian inspired by the likes of CPAC. The disease of renewed fascism in this country has been exported around the world, made all the more easy by the species-changing technology of the internet.
President Joe Biden is correct in saying that the struggle democracies face is against authoritarian regimes. In this struggle we cannot shirk or falter. Yesterday showed just how determined our adversaries are. But yesterday also showed that they are disorganized and easily dispirited. The insurrection was over in a matter of hours. Now Brazil will embark on the same path the US has, in building criminal cases and holding the insurrectionists accountable, up to and including the former president. We must give them every aid and moral support at our disposal.
Far from a cause for worry, yesterday should be a cause for celebration. Another tinpot dictator was informed that no one wants what he's selling. Now we must make all of them the world over aware of this.
Addendum
Apparently, I'm not the only one who has thought this:
What happens here has an impact around the world. This is why sane American leadership is essential. Truth matters, lies destroy. #brazil
— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) January 8, 2023
Brazil: Bolsonaro supporters breach security barriers, break into Brazilian Congress and presidential palace | CNN https://t.co/Fc3hlklM2I
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