World leaders are appalled by the assault on the US Capitol

Leaders around the world on Wednesday condemned the assault on the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, expressing shock at the chaos unfolding in a country they once relied on for global leadership.

“Shameful scenes in the US Congress,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a staunch ally of the United States for generations, wrote on Twitter. of power.”

Other allies have been similarly horrified by what they have described as an attack on American democracy, although some have said they believe US democratic institutions will withstand the unrest. Some leaders have chosen Trump for harsh criticism.

“Trump and his supporters should finally accept the decision of the American voters and stop trampling on democracy,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote on Twitter. “Violent deeds come from inflammatory words.” He added that “contempt for democratic institutions has disastrous effects.”

“The beauty of democracy?” with a shrug of emoji was the reaction of Bashir Ahmad, a personal assistant to the President of Nigeria, who has witnessed several coups since independence – including one led decades ago by President Muhammadu Buhari, who most recently entered the office by a vote.

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and Colombian President Iván Duque were among those in Latin America who denounced the protesters, but both also said they were confident that American democracy and the rule of law would prevail.

“In this sad episode in the US, supporters of fascism have shown their real face: undemocratic and aggressive,” Luis Roberto Barroso, Brazil’s Supreme Court judge and head of the country’s electoral court, wrote on Twitter. He said he hoped that “American society and institutions are reacting vigorously to this threat to democracy.”

Venezuela, which is under US sanctions, said events in Washington showed that the US was “suffering from what it has generated in other countries with its policy of aggression.”

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has survived US-backed opposition efforts to eliminate him despite allegations of human rights abuses, civil unrest and a humanitarian crisis that has forced millions to flee the oil-rich country.

In Puerto Rico, many people went on social networks and joked that the US territory no longer wants to be state-owned. Independence, they said, seemed appealing for the first time in decades.

In fact, the search for independence was one of the last periods in which the US Congress was violently assaulted. Four members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party opened fire on the floor of the House in March 1954, injuring five lawmakers.

The Italians watched the events in shock, always considering the USA as the model of democracy and the country that saved Italy after its fascist descendants during the Second World War.

“This is the long-awaited result of Trumpism,” a center-left Italian politician, Pierluigi Castagnetti, wrote on Twitter. “It simply came to our notice then. When politics is replaced by people’s deception and bigotry, drift is inevitable. “

The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, who leads one of the largest legislatures in the world, also denounced the scenes at the Capitol. The European Union has spent four very gentle years with the Trump administration, and its top officials have repeatedly said it is looking forward to a better relationship under President-elect Joe Biden.

“It simply came to our notice then. Nothing less. In Washington, “Carl Bildt, the former prime minister of Sweden, wrote on Twitter.

Turkey, a NATO ally that has sometimes clashed with Washington, has expressed concern over images of angry Trump supporters trying to prevent Biden from being certified as the new president. The chaos forced lawmakers to rush out of the building.

In a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, all parties in the United States were urged to use “moderation and common sense.”

“We believe that the United States will mature to overcome this internal political crisis,” the ministry said.

The ministry’s statement also called on Turkish citizens in the United States to stay away from crowds and demonstrations.

Trump launched a small call for peace after the body began, but did not immediately call on supporters to disperse. He later urged them to go home and called them “very special people.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was “deeply disturbed” by the events in the United States, Canada’s closest ally and neighbor.

“Violence will never go beyond the will of the people. Democracy in the United States must be maintained – and it will,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

Volkan Bozkir, the 193-member chairman of the United Nations General Assembly, said he was saddened by the developments. But, he wrote on Twitter, “I believe that peace and respect for democratic processes will prevail in our host country at this critical time.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has twice visited Trump at the White House and hosted him in Poland, said on Twitter that his country has “full confidence in the power of American democracy.”