III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 32 

Condemning the violent insurrection in Brazil on January 8, 2023, and 

expressing United States solidarity with the people of Brazil, as well 

as support for safeguarding Brazil’s democratic institutions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. VAN

HOLLEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the violent insurrection in Brazil on January 

8, 2023, and expressing United States solidarity with 

the people of Brazil, as well as support for safeguarding 

Brazil’s democratic institutions. 

Whereas Brazil is a strategic partner and major non-NATO 

ally of the United States, and the bilateral relationship, 

which includes cooperation on economic, environmental, 

defense, and human rights issues, is predicated on a 

shared commitment to democratic values, including absolute respect for free and fair elections; 

Whereas the people of Brazil voted in the first and second 

round of general elections on October 2, 2022, and October 30, 2022, respectively, which were unanimously recVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:00 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR32.IS SR32

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•SRES 32 IS 

ognized as free and fair electoral processes by independent electoral observers; 

Whereas Luiz Ina ́cio Lula da Silva won the second round 

presidential election on October 30, 2022, receiving 50.9 

percent of all votes cast by Brazilians for the presidency 

and defeating incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro; 

Whereas, in accordance with Brazil’s constitution, President 

Luiz Ina ́cio Lula da Silva was sworn into office as the 

39th President of Brazil on January 1, 2023; 

Whereas, prior to Brazil’s general elections, former president 

Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly made false and unfounded accusations questioning the transparency and integrity of 

the country’s electoral processes, publicly attacked the 

impartiality of Brazil’s Supreme Court and Supreme 

Electoral Tribunal, and encouraged his supporters to amplify these baseless claims; 

Whereas, on July 6, 2022, the then-head of Brazil’s Supreme 

Electoral Tribunal warned while in Washington, DC, that 

former president Jair Bolsonaro’s undemocratic rhetoric 

and baseless allegations of electoral fraud exacerbated the 

risk of Brazil experiencing political unrest as or more severe than the United States Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021; 

Whereas, in the aftermath of Brazil’s general elections, 

former president Jair Bolsonaro refused to formally concede to President Luiz Ina ́cio Lula da Silva and continued to share voter fraud conspiracies on social media; 

Whereas, on January 8, 2023, one week after President Luiz 

Ina ́cio Lula da Silva was inaugurated, supporters of 

former president Jair Bolsonaro engaged in a violent, organized siege of Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress, 


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•SRES 32 IS 

and Supreme Court and called for President Luiz Ina ́cio 

Lula da Silva to be removed from office via military or 

other violent intervention if necessary, marking the worst 

assault on Brazilian democracy since the country’s transition from a military dictatorship in the 1980s; 

Whereas, similar to the violent siege against the United 

States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Brazil’s January 8, 

2023, insurrection exposed the resiliency and fragility of 

democracy and the harmful consequences of public officials deliberately spreading electoral disinformation and 

disregarding the rule of law; 

Whereas the heads of Brazil’s three branches of government 

issued a joint statement condemning the ‘‘terrorist acts’’ 

on January 8, 2023, and reaffirming support for Brazil’s 

democracy; 

Whereas President Joe Biden swiftly condemned the ‘‘assault 

on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in 

Brazil’’, and committed to fully supporting Brazil’s 

democratic institutions; and 

Whereas Brazilian authorities are currently pursuing investigations to ensure all rioters, financiers, and public officials responsible for the events on January 8, 2023, are 

held accountable, including by examining the role of social media in organizing and amplifying the riots and 

opening investigations into the actions of former senior 

officials, including former president Jair Bolsonaro: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses its ongoing solidarity with the 

3 people of Brazil and unwavering support for Brazil’s 


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1 democratic institutions in the aftermath of the Jan2 uary 8, 2023, insurrection; 

3 (2) condemns the violent siege conducted by 

4 former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s sup5 porters against Brazil’s presidential palace, Con6 gress, and Supreme Court that was fueled, in part, 

7 by disinformation spread by former president Jair 

8 Bolsonaro over several months; 

9 (3) commends Brazil’s electoral institutions for 

10 conducting free, fair, and transparent elections on 

11 October 2, 2022, and October 30, 2022; 

12 (4) urges social media and group messaging 

13 companies to take concrete steps to address the 

14 ways its platforms are used to facilitate 

15 disinformation and misinformation in Brazil, and to 

16 work with Brazilian authorities to address any role 

17 such platforms had in facilitating and amplifying the 

18 violent events on January 8, 2023; 

19 (5) urges the President to expeditiously review 

20 all requests from Brazilian authorities related to the 

21 investigation into the January 8, 2023, insurrection, 

22 including any future extradition requests for former 

23 senior Brazilian officials; 

24 (6) encourages the United States Senate and 

25 House of Representatives to support any requests 


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1 from the Brazilian Congress related to its investiga2 tion of the violent siege that occurred on January 8, 

3 2023, including sharing best practices from the in4 vestigation conducted by the United States House 

5 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th At6 tack on the United States Capitol; 

7 (7) endorses President Biden’s invitation of 

8 President da Silva to Washington, District of Co9 lumbia, to continue United States-Brazil collabora10 tion on a wide-ranging shared agenda; and 

11 (8) reaffirms its commitment to strengthening 

12 the alliance and strategic partnership between the 

13 United States and the Government of Brazil on the 

14 defense of democracy and human rights and other 

15 issues of shared priorities, including defense co16 operation, food security, environmental cooperation, 

17 and inclusive and sustainable development. 

Æ 


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