Brazil’s democracy is under attack.

On Sunday 8 January 2023, days after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro raided the nation’s democratic institutions in Brasília.

As the rioters violently ransacked the Presidential Palace, the National Congress and the Supreme Court, evidence suggested that the insurrection may have been planned in Florida, where Bolsonaro fled to avoid likely prosecution at home.

Across Brazil, popular movements were quick to mobilize against the attempted coup. Thousands took to the streets on Monday 9 January to defend democratic institutions and demand that the perpetrators of the insurrection be brought to justice. They were joined by an outpouring of solidarity from around the globe.

The attack on Brazil’s democracy is one of many symptoms of the reactionary backlash swelling across the globe. From Narendra Modi’s India to Giorgia Meloni’s Italy, right-wing forces are gaining strength, bringing new challenges to democratic rights and institutions.

These challenges will only sharpen with time. As a new, democratic and multipolar world emerges, the forces of the status quo will mobilize increasing violence to defend their privileges. Their every attack on our rights and popular movements must serve both as a warning and as a calling.

That is why we recall the importance of our mission to unite, organize and mobilize the world’s progressive forces to defend democracy, oppose regime change, and build the world of dignity that the fascists so desperately seek to prevent. Não passarão!

Photo: Twitter