Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva climbed the ramp of Brazil’s presidential palace on the first day of 2023 to begin his third term. His defeated predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had left for Florida rather than attend the inauguration, so a group of ordinary Brazilians joined Lula in Brasília to place the presidential sash over his shoulder — a carefully staged image of democratic renewal.
A week later, the monumental square in front of the palace became the backdrop for a very different spectacle. A crowd draped in Brazil’s green and yellow stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, smashing windows and furniture and slashing paintings. The rioters hoped the chaos would prompt the military to overturn the election and return Bolsonaro to power.
