Letter from Brazil...

By Karina Barcellos, CSO, another

As Brazil’s capital city braced itself for a potential new wave of attacks on Wednesday night, according to information released by national intelligence agencies, PR and Public Affairs teams worldwide were left wondering how Sunday’s events in Brasilia will impact communications in one of the largest democracies in Latin America.  

On the 8^th of January, a mob of extremist supporters of former president Bolsonaro, defeated in the October elections, stormed the gates of three iconic government buildings, home to the presidential office, Congress and the Supreme Court, leaving a trail of destruction before being dispersed by the police. Unhappy with the election results, which they say was rigged and set the left-wing candidate Luis Inacio Lula da Silva up for his third mandate, protesters called for military intervention - a crime in the eyes of the Constitution established in 1988. 

The events interrupted the traditional and heavily sponsored Sunday programming on virtually all broadcasting channels, which reverted to their live cable news counterparts for most of the afternoon. As authorities moved swiftly to make arrests and vowed to investigate and punish those responsible for organising, instigating and financing the attacks, newsrooms all over the country prepared themselves for what would turn out to be the single topic covered in the following days. 

As commentators and legal specialists began to weigh in on the matter, centre-leaning mass media (among them Globo and CNN) immediately labelled the events as anti-democratic, domestic terror, an attempted coup and flat-out criminal activity. At the same time, several traditionally right-leaning networks chose to classify them as vandalism and political manifestations. Parallels were made between the invasion of the American Capitol two years prior. 

As the deeply polarized public struggles to come to terms with the ravaging of many of the country’s symbolic buildings and monuments - the all-glass palaces in Brasilia were designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer and hold a number of invaluable artworks and historical artefacts - fake news and rushed accounts of events dominate the general conversation.  

Civil society quickly responded to calls from authorities to identify the perpetrators, which generated a wave of reports naming people spotted on their own social media and prints of messaging content. More than one thousand arrests were made, and authorities say they have identified financiers in more than ten states, including businesspeople from the agricultural sector, regional retail chains and members of CACs, Brazil’s equivalent to the National Rifle Association in the US. 

From a corporate communications perspective, there are a few developments to watch. 

Organisations connected to the agricultural business chain, even those who did not openly support Mr. Bolsonaro as a candidate, are at risk of reputational damage by association. As always, executives should steer clear of partisan and ideological debate as a safety measure, in public or private appearances and on social media. The same is true for firearms manufacturers, as one of Mr. Da Silva’s first acts in office on January 1st was to revoke many of the decrees published by Mr. Bolsonaro, which amplified access to fire weapons by regular citizens. 

Even though Abracom, the Brazilian Association of Corporate Communications Agencies, has published a letter of condemnation in response to the acts on Sunday, as of the writing of this assessment, only three brands have publicly positioned themselves against the attacks and pro-Democracy, with mixed results. On LinkedIn, the topic is still taboo, and corporate leaders are refraining from making any comments. 

Communications and Public Affairs teams across the Energy, Oil and Gas and Utilities sectors are setting up additional crisis committees, as mentions of refineries and power towers have increased in messaging channels linked to Bolsonarista groups. Private and public intelligence agencies report potential roadblocks, sabotage, invasion and attacks on their facilities.  

In the last couple of days, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and Google’s YouTube have renewed their commitment to cooperating with authorities, although, in the case of Meta, a decision to block and remove antidemocratic content has raised concerns that evidence could be deleted from their servers before the investigations are completed. The #1 general news magazine revealed that the PR team at Twitter could not be found for comment, as most of the Brazilian employees at the company had been laid off on Monday, including most of their Comms and Content Moderation team. 

On Monday, popular right-leaning news radio and YouTube channel Jovem Pan became the object of a special investigation by the Ministerio Público Federal, Brazil’s Federal Prosecution Office, which caused its founder and president Tutinha to resign and four of its top commentators to be removed. The channel was accused of spreading misinformation and instigating the acts on Sunday and is at risk of losing its license to operate. 

It can be expected that in the next few days the limited staff in newsrooms, regardless of their main ‘beat’, will be assigned to cover this event’s aftermath or further developments. As Mr. Bolsonaro, who is currently in Florida, returns to Brasilia this week and steps into the country for the first time without presidential immunity, the Judiciary will follow up on past conclusions by congressional investigators who hold him accountable for offenses ranging from instigating antidemocratic acts to improper management of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

With all these distractions in place and the increasingly short-staffed newsrooms in Brazil, positive corporate agenda coming from agencies may have little or delayed attention. Waiting to see in what direction public opinion will sway around these events in the next days will certainly pay off.