Supporters of the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, have stormed the presidential palace, Congress and ministries’ building in the country’s capital.
Dramatic footage on social media shows hundreds of people marching through the Three Powers Plaza in Brasilia, many of them draped in the yellow and green colours of Brazil’s national flag.
It is understood that supporters broke through police lines in a major breach of security.
Police have used tear gas on the protestors, who have smashed windows and jumped on seats in the Senate chamber.
Brazil’s new president, the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who was officially sworn in last Sunday, called the protesters “vandals and fascists” in a televised address, saying there was “no precedent” in the history of Brazil for the scenes unfolding in the capital.
Mr da Silva, who is currently away on an official trip in Sao Paulo state, warned those involved would be found and punished “with all the force of the law” and announced a federal security intervention in the capital lasting until January 31.
Thousands of pro-Bolsonaro supporters have refused to accept the results of the October election and have spent weeks calling for a military coup.
Many are drawing comparisons with events on 6 January 2021, when Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
Wendy Via, president of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said: “The breach of the Brazilian federal buildings by supporters of far-right extremist leader Jair Bolsonaro who are unhappy with the election results stands in stark similarity to the events of January 6 in the US.
“Bolsonaro, often called the “Trump of the Tropics,” because of his similar hateful rhetoric that divides a nation and his goading to an unhappy electorate into destructive and dangerous activities like invading government buildings and interrupting democratic processes.”
Bolsonaro has barely spoken in public since losing the election and has yet to comment on the situation.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly condemned the “violent attempts to undermine democracy” and pledged Mr da Silva the UK’s “full support”.
Earlier, his Labour shadow David Lammy sent the party’s “full support and solidarity to President Lula and the Brazilian people at this troubling time”.
“This is an appalling attack on democracy, with chilling parallels to the storming of the US Capitol,” he added.
Other world leaders have spoken out with words of support for Mr da Silva, with Chilean President Gabriel Boric saying the government had “our full support in the face of this cowardly and vile attack on democracy”.
Joe Biden, the US President, said the situation was “outrageous”.
“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” he tweeted.
“Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”
