Brazil

César Báez | 9.18.2025 6:30 AM

Brazil had its own January 6 in 2023, when hundreds of former President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace in Brasília. They were protesting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's presidential election victory. Nearly three years later, the Supreme Federal Court—the country's constitutional court—has sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup.

The case began after police discovered a draft decree in the house of Bolsonaro's justice minister that would have annulled the 2022 election and placed Brazil's electoral authority under emergency rule. Testimony and phone records indicated that Bolsonaro reviewed the document and pressed military commanders to intervene.

Prosecutors accused Bolsonaro of leading a network that spread disinformation, courted the armed forces, financed protest camps, and tolerated plots of political violence.

Bolsonaro's trial has become a flashpoint, often compared to the January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol, when a mob........

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