(Former Brazilian leader Bolsonsaro, left, and current president Lula, right, in a delightful juxtaposition of their positions on the Spectrum).

When your Pundit Class, as represented by the Writer’s Section at Socotra House, an independent assortment of Salty world travelers, is reduced to reading the AP account of what is happening in Brazil, you know the panel may be running a little thin on background for things south of the Caribbean Sea. There has been some rumbling, and we thought we would do some of the plumbing on a world in curious disarray. Brazil appears to be one of those places, and the issue is stripping newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of power. He is apparently one of those Left-Wing figures who is accused of stealing a rather large election.

Stop us if you have heard some of this before. But here is the bluster: “SALVADOR, Brazil (AP) — Thousands of Brazilians who support former president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the Supreme Court, presidential palace and Congress on Jan. 8 in an episode that closely resembled the U.S. Capitol insurrection in 2021.”

Whether it does or doesn’t is just one of them. The AP account then delves into the matter of police barricades, storming of buildings, and even the current meme of artwork destruction. While we are naturally interested in random destruction, some of which we have been accused of committing ourselves, we wondered about the “why.” It is a matter of some associated dispute here, none of which we would entertain under provisions of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

We gather the chaos was in support of the right-wing figure of Senor Bolsonaro. He, in turn, is visiting Florida, which seems to have additional commonality with those in residence at Mar-a-Lago. The groups in Brasilia were able to break through police barricades along the capital’s main boulevard, storm buildings, damage furniture, smash windows and destroy artworks. They say Bolsonaro incited the protestors in a strange re-creation of the “insurrection” on Capitol Hill.

WHO ARE THEY AND WHAT DO THEY WANT?
The protesters are hardcore Bolsonaro supporters. He lost the Oct. 30 presidential election. There have been protestors on site in the weeks that followed. They are demanding military intervention to oust newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. They claim he is a communist or something.

HOW DID BRAZIL GET TO THIS POINT?
The right-wing faction of Bolsonaro, when in power, had opposed Brazil’s High Court. The Legal Beagles had been investigating the former President for a variety of crimes, some of which may be true. The conflict had led to a direct altercations with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who had presided over the electoral authority during the election. There had been an institutional crisis similar to the Constitutional one being played out here in slightly less vitriolic manifestation. Similar though are accusations about electronic voting systems. In Brazil, it led to a refusal of Bolsonaro to concede defeat. The Right is apparently hoping he will ride back in or the armed forces would lead a more formal coup d’etat.

America has had a relatively polite discussion about elections. Brazil has taken a more tumultuous approach. Similar to the American version of contested elections, there are specific allegations of mis-conduct which are denied strongly by whoever is sitting atop the levers of power. We won’t go into them here, since they sound remarkably similar.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was one of Bolsonaro’s few foreign allies. Presumably Senor Luis and his friends have friends here, both of whom wield power.

So, the AP leads us to this explanation of WHY BOLSONARO IS IN THE U.S.?
“Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before Lula’s Jan. 1 inauguration, disrupting the traditional transfer of power. Some analysts speculate it is an attempt to avoid potential prosecution in connection with several ongoing investigations targeting him.” So, here he is in the United States in apparent alliance with another generally powerless leader against a power structure aligned against both figures. Apparently it is safer here, which should comfort those of us in the same place. But to have something similar happening in the great states, north and south, is…interesting.

The AP shouts: “WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”
We don’t know, but the other global power in the Americas is having some issues and they are remarkably similar to the ones here. With the landscape we have examined, fronted by actual kinetic combat in Ukraine, amalgamated with some restive warnings from the Koreas amid a surge of Chinese activity, there is potential trouble to the east, west and south. If Canada has issues, which they do and we have ignored, we can place trouble in most directions, including “UP” and “DOWN.”

Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com