by MARC STEINER
A successful legal coup in Peru and an attempted coup in Brazil reveal the international connections and shared capitalist interests of rightwing movements—and the new methods they’re employing to seize power.
Between former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo being removed from office and Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right supporters in Brazil storming the halls of government in a January 6-style coup attempt, the pitched battle for political power in Latin American states is intensifying more with each passing day. What is driving these insurgent rightwing movements across the continent? What international forces are connecting them, and how are they learning from and feeding each other? What must the response from the left, within and beyond government, be? This week on The Marc Steiner Show, as part of our ongoing collaboration with the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), we bring you a new installment of our special series on “The Rise of the Right.” With a special focus on the latest political upheaval in Brazil and Peru, Marc speaks with Latin America-based journalists Camila Escalante and Michael Fox.
Camila Escalante is the co-founder and editor of Kawsachun News. She co-hosts the English-language weekly podcast Latin America Review on Kawsachun News and is the Latin America correspondent for PressTV. Michael Fox is a freelance multimedia journalist, filmmaker, radio reporter, and former editor of NACLA. He is the host of the podcast Brazil on Fire, a joint production of NACLA and The Real News Network.
Transcript
Marc Steiner: Welcome to The Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. It’s great to have you all with us.
Now, this episode, we’re taking an in-depth look at what’s happening in Brazil and across Latin America, where we see the right wing attempting to seize control of these nations. Now, we just saw the violence that ensued in Brasilia by the right wing attacking the halls of government, attempting to overthrow the elected government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who’s popularly known as Lula. It failed this time. What happens next? And President Lula is prosecuting those involved and those who supported them.
And then we just saw in Peru that the right wing and industrialists did oust the rightfully elected prime minister, Alberto Otarola. And dozens of people have been gunned down on the streets. And this is emblematic of what’s happening across the continent. The divide is deep in Latin America, as it is in the United States and across the globe. So today, we’ll explore in depth the struggle in Brazil and across Latin America. And also, as importantly, what it portends for the entire continent, what it says about the struggles to come in the United States and across the globe.
Now, this broadcast is part of both our series, my series, The Rise of The Right, and our collaboration with NACLA, the North American Congress on Latin America. We’re joined by Michael Fox, who’s a freelance journalist, former editor of NACLA, and host of the podcast Brazil on Fire, that’s a joint production of NACLA and The Real News. And Camila Escalante, who is co-founder and editor of Kawsachun News. She co-hosts the English-language weekly podcast at that news entitled Latin America Review, and is the Latin American correspondent for PressTV.
And Camila and Mike, welcome. Good to have you both with us here on The Marc Steiner Show at The Real News.
Michael Fox: Thank you so much for having us.
Camila Escalante: Thank you for having us.
Marc Steiner: Let me add that Mike is joining us from Oaxaca, which means I don’t like him anymore since I’m not in Oaxaca [laughs]. And Camila joins from São Paulo, which I’d also like to be in, but I’m here in Baltimore, which is fine.
But Mike, let me just begin by looking at Brazil and talking about what happened and why in the attack on the government offices in Brasilia, which seemed pretty massive. So talk a bit of the background of why it happened and what that divide is like, and why the divide is so deep in Brazil. And then Camila, I want you to join in on that as we start this conversation. Mike?
Michael Fox: Yeah. So I mean, Jan. 8 was a January 6 copycat attack, invasion on the Brazilian Congress, where you had thousands of Bolsonaro supporters that bused to Brasilia. They pushed their way onto the Esplanade, which is like the Capitol Mall in Brasilia. They invaded the government buildings, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, Presidential Palace. Security forces, by and large, allowed them to walk in. And it was only a couple of hours later that Lula responded, because he was actually in São Paulo visiting people who had been impacted by big rains out there. And he imposed a federal intervention into the military, into the security forces in Brasilia. So he brought them under control. And then within minutes, the police had already moved people out of those presidential buildings. But of course, the buildings were just wrecked. They were just ransacked. And the videos over social media are just shocking.
What led to this, I mean, there’s a lot of background here. But of course, Lula da Silva’s victory, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory on Oct. 30, he wins the elections, beats now former President Bolsonaro by roughly 2%. He comes into power. Bolsonaro was silent almost the entire time. But Bolsonaro supporters had been holding rallies outside of military barracks, calling for the military to intervene. And I’m hoping that maybe Camila can talk a little bit more about that, because I know that she was at some of those rallies firsthand.
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