Brazil’s October 2022 national election resulted in a loss for President Jair Bolsonaro, a conservative, to the leftist and current Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Subsequent events bear an uncanny resemblance to the events that unfolded in the US during the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capital Building.
Many in Brazil have not accepted the results of the election, blaming, in part, voting machines without paper trails and corruption within the government, including the military’s conflicting support for the new administration. Many desire to return former President Bolsonaro to power, while others, including President da Silva, accuse the former president’s supporters of wanting to overthrow democracy. Just prior to President da Silva assuming the presidency on January 1, 2023, Bolsonaro fled Brazil to receive treatment at a medical facility in Florida – where he apparently remains today.
The January 8, 2023 citizen riots at Brazil’s Congress, Presidential Palace and Supreme Court have shaken the country and clearly show that it is not the US alone that has become deeply divided along conservative and liberal political lines.
AP News reported yesterday regarding the riots and the underlying causation. The AP News article may be viewed HERE.
Reuters also reported yesterday about former Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s presence in Florida and the detainment of roughly 1,500 of his political supporters for rioting in Brazil. The Reuters article may be viewed HERE.
The Brazilian riots, as in the US, reflect the nearly polar opposite views of what constitutes good civil government between politically conservative and liberal perspectives. Much of the formerly overlapping agreement between left and right leaning US politicians is eroding and disappearing, including the respect for individual rights clearly outlined in the Bill of Rights, freedom and liberty from invasive governmental taxation and regulation, patriotism, the priority of religious faith that is recognized and protected by the government (not the “establishment” thereof), and maintaining a strong military and border controls.
As a refresher, the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) may be viewed HERE.
My brothers and sisters, we should not only pray for the US, but for many countries around the world, including Brazil, where this battle between left and right has taken the focus off of our need for God’s peace, wisdom and love – which comes only through our Lord and Savior, Jesus!
John 14:6 (NKJV)
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Praise Jesus forevermore!
