Brazilian expats in London, Ont. explain the violence and fear they see unfolding | CBC News

Brazilian expats living in London, Ont. say they are saddened and appalled following the worst attack on Brazil’s state institutions since the country’s return to democracy in the 1980s.

Thousands of election-denying supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court earlier this month. They smashed windows, furniture and artwork, stole guns and artifacts in protest of the newly elected Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

“I was horrified because of this,” said Carla Ruthes Coelho, who came to London to study nine years ago and co-founded the group Coletivo Brasileiro. “Parts of our culture have been completely destroyed.” 

Brazil’s authorities said they dismantled a camp of Bolsonaro supporters in the nation’s capital, and detained about 1,500 people for questioning on Monday. The Supreme Court also ordered social media platforms to block accounts of users spreading anti-democratic propaganda, and ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office for 90 days over alleged security failings. 

Bolsonaro is currently in Florida, where he landed two days before his term ended. 

Ruthes Coelho said living in London makes navigating the currently political climate difficult, but she said the tension is palpable, even from afar. 

“Since 2016, when our first female president of Brazil had been removed from office through a coup, our communities and our population has been really divided and that has caused issues within families and also within different communities and even the state,” she said.

“People have a hard time listening to each other…the situation has escalated and throughout those four years of [Bolsonaro’s] government, he has incited people against each other.” 

Ruthes Coelho added that she constantly worries for LGBTQ+ friends who are outspoken, as well as those who are marginalized and racialized.

According to Western University’s Mathieu Turgeon, whose area of expertise is Brazilian politics, Bolsonaro left his mark by cultivating a pervasive fear of the political left among his supporters,

“As strange as it seems, they still are afraid of communism ever being planted in Brazil,” said Turgeon, associate professor. 

“They still think this political left is poison for the country and may take their rights away…what these people have found in Bolsonaro and his movement is a vehicle for such preferences.” 

Fernado Xavier, owner of Acai Concept in downtown London, is currently in Brazil visiting friends and family. He admits it’s hard not to get caught up in the tensions that are tearing communities apart.

“We don’t know who to believe, what to believe. We see several news that contradicted each other,” he said.

Xavier said he’s concerned about the prospect of civil war and an economic crisis, scenarios that, if they come to pass, will be felt across the world. 

“I’m not saying that’s going to happen, but if change comes in Brazil, the relationship with North America and Europe is going to change,” he said.

“In Brazil, it’s one of the biggest countries to export products, to send products to other countries. So that’s why I think people are very worried about what’s going to happen in Brazil.”