A recent attack in Brazil reflects the latent danger of extremist movements and their capacity to threaten democratic stability, something which forces the imposition of firm actions to combat radicalisation and protect Brazil’s institutions.
Osvaldo Cardosa
Identified as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, an attacker with links to the far-right perpetrated an attack outside the Supreme Federal Court (STF, using the Brazilian abbreviation) on the night of 13th November. Wanderley Luiz wanted to enter the STF and, on not being able to, threw home-made explosive artefacts outside the seat of the supreme court.
Later on, the 59-year-old man died after detonating a gadget strapped to his body when he was challenged by a security guard. He was a former candidate to be a councillor for the Liberal Party, the political organisation headed by ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.
He was born in the state of Santa Catarina and for months he had been in Brasilia where he rented a house in Ceilândia, an administrative region of the Federal District.
The two explosions in Brasilia’s symbolic Three Powers Square caused national alarm and led to the questioning of security arrangements for key international events.
According to analysts, the attack was directly related to the insurrectionist acts of 8th January 2023 by its ideological background and its objective to attack some key Brazilian democratic institutions.
Both episodes occurred at critical moments for the country.
The January disturbances took place not long after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president, while the November attack happened days before the G20 leaders’ summit in Río de Janeiro (18th and 19th November), an internationally important event.
Both in the 8th January revolt and in the recent attack, the aggressors directed their actions against core government entities: the STF, the National Congress and the seat of the presidency in 2023, and now again against the supreme court.
Both events sought to erode confidence in the democratic institutions. Investigations into the facts highlight the influence of radical sectors linked to the far-right and followers of Bolsonaro.
The anti-democratic narrative promoted by these groups, which includes disinformation and calls for military intervention, was highlighted as a key factor in the attackers’ motivation.
Alexandre de Moraes, minister of the STF, linked the November attack to a process of radicalisation which began a long time previously, and highlighted that the lack of appropriate sanctions after the acts of January 2023 could have encouraged other strikes.
According to de Moraes, impunity foments greater aggression against the institutions and he believes one human bomb is not an isolated case.
He states that the country needs pacifying, but that it is only possible if the insurrectionists are punished. His assessment, moreover, is that the recent bomb offensive could be the most serious attack against the supreme court.
He cites the so-called hate office as the initiator of narratives against the institutions, the supreme court, the judicial power’s autonomy, ministers and their families.
He warns that this process was carried out under the false guise of a criminal use of the freedom of expression. “Nowhere in the world is this considered freedom of expression. It is a crime,” he says.
For de Moraes, the result of the attempt to discredit the institutions was 8th January 2023. Preliminary investigations indicate that Wanderley Luiz may have acted after “a long period of planning,” according to the director-general of the federal police, Andrei Rodrigues. The public order force also found that the bombs used were home-made but with a “high capacity to maim”, an indicator of their lethality. Among the artefacts was an extinguisher full of petrol that simulated a flamethrower. In the boot of Wanderley Luiz’s car, fireworks mounted on bricks were found, set up to direct the explosion. PL
(Translated by Philip Walker – Email: philipwalkertranslation@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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