Over 150 Parliamentarians, Ministers, and Ex-Presidents From 26 Countries Warn of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's Plans for an 'Insurrection' on 7 September

Right now, President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies — including white supremacist groups, military police, and public officials at every level of government — are preparing a nation-wide march against the Supreme Court and Congress on 7 September, stoking fears of a coup in the world’s third largest democracy.

President Bolsonaro has escalated his attacks on Brazil’s democratic institutions in recent weeks. On 10 August, he directed an unprecedented military parade through the capital city of Brasília, as his allies in Congress pushed sweeping reforms to the country’s electoral system, widely considered to be one of the most trustworthy in the world. Bolsonaro and his government have threatened — several times — to cancel the 2022 presidential elections if Congress fails to approve these reforms.

Now, Bolsonaro is calling on his followers to travel to Brasília on 7 September in an act of intimidation of the country’s democratic institutions. According to a message shared by the President on 21 August, the march is preparation for a “necessary counter-coup” against the Congress and the Supreme Court. The message claimed that Brazil’s “communist constitution” has taken away Bolsonaro’s power, and accused “the Judiciary, the left, and a whole apparatus of hidden interests” of conspiring against him.

Members of Congress in Brazil have warned that the 7 September mobilization has been modeled on the insurrection at the United States Capital on 6 January 2021, when then-president Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to “stop the steal” with false claims of electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential elections.

We are gravely concerned about the imminent threat to Brazil’s democratic institutions — and we stand vigilant to defend them ahead of 7 September and after. The people of Brazil have struggled for decades to secure democracy from military rule. Bolsonaro must not be permitted to rob them of it now.

Signed,

José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Former Prime Minister, Spain

Fernando Lugo, Fmr President, Paraguay

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Laureate, Argentina

Noam Chomsky, Professor, USA

Yanis Varoufakis, Member of Parliament, Greece

Ernesto Samper, Fmr President, Colombia

Jeremy Corbyn, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Cori Bush, Member of the House of Representatives, USA

Jean-Luc Melenchon, Member of the National Assembly, France

Gustavo Petro, Senator, Colombia

Caroline Lucas, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Golriz Gharahman, Member of Parliament, New Zealand

Larissa Waters, Senator, Australia

Helmut Scholz, Member of the European Parliament, Germany

Manon Aubry, Member of the European Parliament, France

Gonzalo Winter, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile

Heinz Bierbaum, President of the Party of the European Left, Germany

Ricardo Patiño, Fmr Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ecuador

Unai Sordo, General Secretary of Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), Spain

Cornel West, Professor, USA

María José Pizarro, Member of the House of Representatives, Colombia

Juan Somavía, Fmr Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Chile

Rafael Correa, Fmr President, Ecuador

Oscar Laborde, President of Mercosur Parliament, Argentina

Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Member of the Chicago City Council, USA

Manuel Bompard, Member of the European Parliament, France

Rafael Michelini, Senator, Uruguay 

Nelson Larzabal, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay

Celso Amorim, Fmr Minister of Foreign Relations, Brazil

Ana Isabel Prera, Fmr Ambassador, Guatemala

Hugo Yasky, Secretary-General of Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina (CTA), Argentina

Mehreen Faruqi, Senator, Australia

Thierry Bodson, President of the Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique (FGTB), Belgium

Denis de la Reussille, Member of the National Council, Switzerland

Marco Enriquez-Ominami, Fmr Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile

Aída García Naranjo, Fmr Minister of Women and Social Development, Peru

Jordon Steele-John, Senator, Australia

Martín Torrijos, Fmr President, Panamá

Liliam Kechichian, Senator, Uruguay

Nicolás Viera, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay

Zarah Sultana, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Claudia Webbe, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Martin Buschmann, Member of EU Parliament, Germany

Kenny MacAskill, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Mick Whitley, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Marion Fellows, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Mohammad Yasin, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Tony Lloyd, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

John McDonnell, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Kate Osborne, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Ian Byrne, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Pauline Bryan, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Prem Sikka, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

John Hendy, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

Gerardo Pisarello, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Cecilia Britto, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina

Gabriela Rivadeneria, Fmr President of National Assembly, Ecuador

Aina Vidal, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain

Daisy Tourné, Senator, Uruguay

Eric Calcagno, National Deputy, Argentina

Omar Plaini, Senator, Argentina

Marcela Aguiñaga, Fmr Minister of the Environment, Ecuador

Rafael Mayoral, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain

Fernanda Vallejo, National Deputy, Argentina

Idoia Villanueva, Member of the European Parliament, Spain

Lucía Muñoz Dalda, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain

Marita Perceval, Senator, Argentina

Ricardo Oviedo, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina

Maite Mola, Vice-President of the Party of the European Left, Spain

Andres Arauz, Fmr Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent, Ecuador

Alicia Castro, Fmr Ambassador, Argentina

Adolfo Mendoza Leigue, Senator, Bolivia

Barry Gardiner, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Jon Cruddas, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Mary Kelly Foy, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Apsana Begum, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Maurizio Landini, General Secretary of Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Italy

Kim Johnson, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Diane Abbott, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Tahir Ali, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Sira Rego, Member of the European Parliament, Spain

Manu Pineda, Member of the European Parliament, Spain

Richard Burgon, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Iván Cepeda Castro, Senator, Colombia

Daniel Caggiani, Fmr President of the Mercosur Parliament, Uruguay

Guillaume Long, Fmr Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ecuador

José Roselli, National Deputy, Argentina

Guillermo Carmona, National Deputy, Argentina

Arlindo Chinaglia, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Brazil

Paola Vega, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Costa Rica

Juan López de Uralde, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain

Monica Macha, National Deputy, Argentina

Martina Velarde, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain

Antònia Jover, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain

Daniel Martínez, Fmr Mayor of Montevideo, Uruguay

Ana Merelis, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Bolivia

Perpétua Almeida, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Brazil

Carlos Ominami, Fmr Senator, Chile

Hugo Martínez, Fmr Foreign Minister, El Salvador

Scott Ludlam, Fmr Senator, Australia

Leïla Chaibi, Member of the European Parliament, France

Saúl Ortega, Fmr President of the Mercosur Parliament, Venezuela

Mónica Xavier, Fmr Senator, Uruguay

Paulão, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Brazil

Cristina Alvarez Rodríguez, National Deputy, Argentina

Lia Veronica Caliva, National Deputy, Argentina

Fotini Bakadima, Member of Parliament, Greece

Ricardo Canese, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Paraguay

Héctor Fernández, National Deputy, Argentina

Alejandro Rusconi, International Relations Secretary of Movimiento Evita, Argentina

Amanda Della Ventura, Senator, Uruguay 

Carlos López, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina

Juan Carlos Alderete, National Deputy, Argentina

Ruth Buffalo, Member of the North Dakota House of Representatives, USA

Adrien Quatennens, Member of the National Assembly, France

Cristian Bello, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina

Alberto Grillón, Fmr Senator, Paraguay

Jahiren Noriega Donoso, Member of the National Assembly, Ecuador

Carlos Sotelo, Fmr Senator, Mexico

Nanci Parrilli, Senator, Argentina

María Antonieta Saa Diaz, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile 

Marcia Covarrubias, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile

Bettiana Díaz, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay

Gastón Harispe, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina

Ubaldo Aíta, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay

Carolina Yutrovic, National Deputy, Argentina

Claudia Mix, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile

Clara López, Fmr Minister of Labour, Colombia 

Karol Cariola, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile

Roser Maestro, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain

Mercedes Pérez, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Victoria Donda, National Deputy, Argentina

Benoît Martin, President of the Confédération Générale du Travail-Paris (CGT-Paris), France

Marisa Saavedra, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Miguel Bustamante, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Antón Gómez-Reino, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Pedro Antonio Honrubia, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Joan Mena, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Mar García Puig, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Txema Guijarro, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Pablo Echenique, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Sofía Castañón, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Javier Sanchez, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Pilar Garrido, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Ismael Cortés, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain 

Julio Sotelo, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina

Florence Poznanski, National Secretary Parti de Gauche, France

John Ackerman, Professor, Mexico

Karina Oliva, Fmr Gubernatorial Candidate for the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile

Florence Poznanski, National Executive Secretary of the Parti de Gauche, France

Jean-Christophe Sellin, Co-coordinator of the Parti de Gauche, France

Helene Lecacheux, Co-coordinator of the Parti de Gauche, France

Camilo Lagos, President of the Partido Progresista, Chile

Gibrán Ramírez Reyes, Professor, Mexico

Katu Arkonada, Network of Intellectuals in Defense of Humanity, Mexico

Eduardo Valdes, National Deputy, Argentina

Nora Del Valle Giménez, Senator, Argentina

Minou Tabarez Miraval, National Deputy, Dominican Republic

Yves Niveaux, Direction of the PST/POP, Switzerland

Marc Botenga, Member of EU Parliament, Belgium

Felipe Carballo, Diputado Nacional, Frente Amplio, Uruguay

José Miguel Insulza, Fmr Foreign Minister, Chile

Mathilde Pannot, Member of the National Assembly, France