The Washington PostThe Washington Post

How Bolsonaro's rhetoric - then his silence - stoked Brazil assault

By Terrence McCoy

09 Jan 2023 · 5 min read

Editor's Note

The question of whether Brazil's young democracy will survive the Jair Bolsonaro presidency isn't new, but it has become even more valid in light of Sunday's riots. The Washington Post reports.

RIO DE JANEIRO - For more than four years, the most fundamental of questions has loomed over Brazil: Would its young democracy survive the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro?

Latin America's largest country embarked on what amounted to a test of its democratic strength in 2018 when it elected the former army captain who openly lamented the collapse of the country's military dictatorship, once threatened to reinstall its rule on the first day of his presidency and sought at every turn to sow doubt in elections.

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