Brazilian and American congressmen discuss attacks on democracy | Brazil

A delegation of Brazilian parliamentarians led by senator Eliziane Gama (PSD-MA) is in the United States (USA) to discuss with local congressmen the attacks on democracy in both countries. The group also met with representatives from the Organization of American States (OAS).

“There is a lot of similarity in the attacks on the Democratic Rule of Law that occurred in both countries. So, we came in an attempt to exchange experiences and even build something further so that we can expand this to other countries as well”, said Senator Eliziane, rapporteur for the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) that investigated the coup acts of January 8, 2023.

The delegation also includes senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE) and deputies Pastor Henrique Vieira (PSOL-RJ), Rogério Correia (PT-MG), Jandira Feghali (PCdoB-RJ) and Rafael Brito (MDB-AL), also CPMI members. The commission requested the indictment of former president Jair Bolsonaro and another 60 people, including high-ranking military personnel, for attempted coup d’état.

Brazilian congressmen will meet between this Tuesday, the 30th, and next Thursday, the 2nd, with American parliamentarians who they consider “friends of Brazil”, such as Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Susan Wild, Jim McGovern, Kamlager- Dove, Castro and Cori Bush and Chuy Garcia.

A meeting is also planned with Democrat Jamie Raskin and other parliamentarians from the Capitol CPI, which is investigating the invasion of the United States Congress, on January 6, 2021, by supporters of former president Donald Trump, unhappy with his electoral defeat. for Joe Biden.

According to deputy Jandira Feghali, the objective is to create an international front against attempts to destabilize democracy.

“This year we will have strategic elections in several countries, and extremists are working together to sabotage them with their fake news (false information) and hate speech. It is urgent to form an international parliamentary front that can guarantee the maintenance of humanist and democratic values,” he stated.

The deputy recalled the recent attacks made on the Brazilian Judiciary by businessman Elon Musk, owner of platform X, formerly Twitter, as part of this strategy to destabilize investigations into January 8th.

The visit to Washington was organized by the Vladimir Herzog Institute with the aim of exchanging experiences about the invasion of the Capitol and the headquarters of the Three Powers, in Brasília. The Institute’s executive director, Rogério Sottili, said that the idea for the trip came up in October last year, when he suggested to rapporteur Eliziane the exchange of experiences between the CPIs.

“The visit aims to present the work of the CPMI of January 8 and the situation of anti-democratic movements in Brazil, strengthen ties with American parliamentarians to promote democracy and human rights,” said Sottili, adding that the idea is to build cooperation channels for sharing information about undemocratic movements.

OAS

This Tuesday, the delegation met with the secretary of the Multidimensional Security Commission of the Organization of American States, Ivan Marques, and with representatives of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), linked to the OAS.

According to Eliziane Gama, the Brazilian delegation proposed the creation, within the scope of the OAS, of a permanent space to combat crimes against democracy.

“This approval would be a more macro thing. It is not something to serve just Brazil and the United States, but to serve all countries that are part of the OAS”, said the parliamentarian. Eliziane added that this proposal would need to be approved by all OAS member states.

The executive secretary of the Vladimir Herzog Institute highlighted the OAS’s concern with the security of democracies in the Americas. “Our parliamentarians highlighted the role of militias and paramilitary groups in destabilizing democracies, especially in the electoral process”, added Rogério Sottili.