Johanna Karanko, the head of the Finnish Embassy in Brasília, considers Sunday’s demonstrations to be the work of a small radical group.
Head of the Finnish Embassy in Brasília Johanna Karanko wouldn’t compare Sunday’s events in the Brazilian capital to the takeover of the US Congress two years ago.
– Now it’s Sunday. No process in Congress was going on at the same time. This is more of a demonstration where the protesters have reached further than they themselves thought they could, says Karanko.
According to Karango, demonstrations in the country’s capital were expected, but the access of protesters to the interior of government buildings was a surprise.
– It is a question of a smaller radical group that has been in traffic. In that sense, this was not expected, but one could have thought that the security forces were better prepared for such a possibility.
According to Karango, since the elections, the country has had a former president Jair Bolsonaro local demonstrations by supporters, which have been concentrated mainly in front of the army barracks. However, these have been on the wane.
– All the main politicians have positioned themselves behind democracy, that is, they have not supported the protesters’ demands that the army interfere in Brazil’s democratic process.
Embassy staff and local Finns are fine
According to Karango, the situation still looked calm in the morning, when his colleague had cycled around the city. The unrest peaked around 4 p.m. local time, when the embassy was still having a busy day of work.
Karanko says that there is no problem with the embassy’s staff, and the local Finns are most likely safe as well.
– I have not yet received an acknowledgment from all the locals as to what their situation is. However, none of them live in the inner city. The representation area is also located a few kilometers away.
President of Brazil Lula da Silva was speaking on TV just at the time of Karango’s interview. According to Karango, the local governor has been in close cooperation with Congress in resolving the matter, and all the main politicians are involved in calming the situation.