How democracy dies

When Lula da SilvaLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, is the left-wing president of Brazil. won the Brazilian presidential election last October by the tiniest of margins, the whole world braced for a backlash. Everyone expected the loser, Jair BolsonaroThe right wing Brazilian president from 2019 to 2022. , would refuse to accept the result. Brazil could be taking the first steps back towards dictatorship.

Instead, Bolsonaro conceded the vote and fled to Florida. Lula was sworn in last week, and the world breathed a sigh of relief.

It turned out to be only the eye of the storm. On Sunday, Bolsonaro's supporters finally did what they had promised to do: they tried to overturn the election by storming Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace.

Brazil is getting richer, but it is politically very divided. Just 40 years ago, it was a dictatorship, and many right-wingers want to return to authoritarianEnforcing strict obedience to authority. rule.

Many have drawn parallels between the actions of Bolsonaro's loyalists, and the Trump supporters who stormed the US CapitolThe building in Washington DC where the US Congress meets. It was named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome. in January 2021.

The Trump and Bolsonaro movements have been influencing each other for years, and former Trump adviser Steve BannonA former chief strategist for the White House during Donald Trump's term. is deeply involved in Brazilian far-right politics.¹

But experts think there are other parallels to be drawn. Both Trump and Bolsonaro, they argue, are using the tactics of Adolf Hitler.

Hitler set his supporters against the press, accusing it of lying and smearing him. He claimed that elections were fixed against him. He ignored laws meant to restrict his power, and exploited people's economic worries. Trump and Bolsonaro have both done the same.

Others think these comparisons miss one important fact. When Hitler came to power, he almost immediately made himself dictator. Neither Trump nor Bolsonaro managed to overturn democracy - and they might not get another chance.

Yes: Like Hitler, Bolsonaro has bulldozed his country's political and legal institutions and built up a base of fanatical supporters ready to go to war with their own country if their man does not win.

No: Bolsonaro is currently skulking in the USA, trying to avoid prosecution. He is not leading his supporters, but following them. He certainly does not look like a viable dictator.

Or... Hitler was a product of his own time, and so no modern politician will ever be exactly like him. But we should be very worried by the trend that a lot of global politics is following towards the far right.