Today a radical mob proclaiming “revolution” stormed the nation’s parliament, shutting down the legislative session attempting to settle the recent elections according to constitutional norms. The crowd was incited by the embattled current chief executive, El Presidente, whose term ends in a few weeks after a serious re-election defeat two months ago.
Election observers, as well government officials, many of them from the embattled president’s own party, have validated the results of the election as fair and free of systemic fraud. Challenges by El Presidente have been rejected by the judiciary, including by the nation’s constitutional court.
The outgoing president met with protesting supporters before the attack, many of whom had traveled from outlying provinces to show their allegiance to the popular politician, who has held large rallies around the nation. El Presidente vowed to the crowd to never concede defeat, once again claimed massive fraud and conspiracy in the election, and encouraged the protesters to march on the parliament building to support his allies in that legislative body.
The mob, arriving at the parliamentary building, quickly pushed past police lines and briefly scuffled with security forces within the rotunda, as members of parliament were quickly evacuated to protected shelters. The insurrectionists broke into both legislative chambers and the offices of parliamentary leaders, sending grinning selfies as they ransacked the building, before being finally forced out of the building by late-arriving police forces.
When called upon by national leaders to call his rioting supporters off, the current president, sheltering in the executive mansion, issued video and text messages in social media expressing his love and appreciation for the
“great patriots,” and justified their actions based on his re-election being “stolen” by “evil” people. He called on his supporters to “remember this day forever!”A
Supporters of the current president immediately went to national television, asserting without evidence that the attack on parliament was actually the work of anarchists and anti-government rebels, not supporters of the defeated chief executive.
Parliament met later that evening, in defiance of the defeated insurgent mob, to confirm the results of last year’s election. It remains uncertain whether El Presidente would continue to foment domestic violence to overturn the election results, and, if so, whether the nation’s institutions would be able to address the threat to democratic processes.