Event in New York debates the role of civil society against the Bolsonarist coup
WBO Press release
September 8 2023
Paulo Abrão from the WBO and Rogério Sottil, from the Vladimir Herzog Institute, participate in a panel on defense of democracy
Debate revisits the role of Brazilian organizations that warned the US about Bolsonaro's coup threats
The role of Brazilian civil society in preventing former president Jair Bolsonaro and his followers from carrying out a coup d'état in the 2022 election will be the subject of a debate with the participation of Paulo Abrão, executive director of the WBO (Washington Brazil Office), and Rogério Sottili, executive director of the Vladimir Herzog Institute.
The debate will take place on September 12 at 6 pm (local time) at the Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies, at Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University, in New York.
Register here to participate.
Abrão and Sottili were part of the July 2022 delegation from 19 Brazilian organizations that held meetings over the course of a week with representatives of the US Department of State, members of the US Congress, the international press, academics and leaders of local civil society organizations to warn of the risks that Bolsonaro and his followers would not accept an adverse result in that presidential election. The delegation asked the international community to promptly recognize the result of the election, whoever won, and to reiterate the reliability of electronic voting machines and Brazilian electoral institutions.
"It is important to revisit and discuss the work of this delegation and the role it played as part of a great effort to give national and international support to democracy in Brazil, at a very delicate moment in the country's history", said Abrão.
“Since we were in the United States in July 2022 on the eve of the presidential elections in Brazil to warn the world of the dangers that democracies suffer, we have had the victory of a government committed to democratic values. But, despite the defeats of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, there are still movements that are working to destroy the democratic rule of law in Brazil and here. We need to continue acting so that events like the invasion of the Capitol in the United States and the 8th of January in Brazil, do not happen anymore,” said Sottili.
Between July 24 and 29, 2022, the Brazilian delegation met with: the US State Department in a private meeting lasting more than an hour; aides to congressional representatives on the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Representatives Jamie Raskin of Maryland (a member of the committee investigating the January 6 insurrection), Hank Johnson of Georgia, Mark Takano of California, and Sheila Cherfilus McCormick of Florida; aides to Senate President Patrick of Vermont; Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland; Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont; ambassadors from member countries of the Organization of American States; the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and local civil society organizations.
At the time, one of the delegation's interlocutors, Senator Bernie Sanders, said: "What I heard [from the delegation], unfortunately, sounds very familiar to me, because of the efforts of [Donald] Trump and his friends to undermine the American democracy. I am not surprised that Bolsonaro is trying to do the same in Brazil. We very much hope that the result of the [Brazilian] elections will be recognized and respected, and that democracy will indeed prevail in Brazil.”
