The horrific demonstration in favor of Bolsonaro in Brasilia

Independence from the Portuguese Empire in 1822 is celebrated on September 7 in Brazil. Thousands of supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro They have arrived In São Paulo and Brasilia to participate in a huge demonstration in his favor at the request of Bolsonaro himself, whose political support is in sharp decline and his re-election, in 2022, is not entirely certain.

Some analysts have interpreted this call as further evidence of Bolsonaro’s weakness, while others even fear that Independence Day may turn into a rebellion against the ‘model’.Assault on the United States Congress On the 6th of January, or in any case in a violent demonstration that could damage the democracy and institutions of the country. Tuesday morning, the first protesters collide With the police ready to protect the Brazilian Parliament, threats came from the crowd to storm the Supreme Court building.

On the night between Monday and Tuesday, in Brasilia, hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters dressed in flag colors broke through police checkpoints and approached the National Congress building. One of the president’s sons, Representative Eduardo Bolsonaro, had arrived immediately, greeted the demonstrators, and got into one of the trucks that formed a motorcade, he wrote brazilian newspaper or a balloon.

Chaos in Brasilia, Bolsonaro supporters violated the police blockade. Fears of a far-right insurgency are growing in the country
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– Nathalia Urban September 7, 2021

Bolsonaro himself had urged the September 7 demonstration in mid-August: in a video he asked the Brazilian people to take to the streets and participate in the “largest” rally “in the history of the country”, to restore “the base”. law” to maintain “a balance between powers” ​​and to ensure “adherence to the constitution.” For several months, Bolsonaro has been attacking the country’s Supreme Court and the Supreme Electoral Court, seeing them as major obstacles to the work of his government.

There were concerns about Tuesday’s demonstration that clashes between the two sides could occur BolsonaristasThat is, Bolsonaro’s supporters, left-wing protesters and indigenous activists have been camping near Congress since last month waiting for a ruling that could call into question their constitutionally allotted land limits.

“Bolsonaro needs chaos. He is a master of chaos,” said Alessandro Molon, a congressman from the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), adding that “clashes or conflicts are all he wants to be able to call up the armed forces.” Ruth D’Aquino, newspaper columnist or a balloon, he argued that the president was deliberately trying to foment “chaos”, to divert attention from the serious economic, social and health crisis gripping the country: “Bolsonaro is trying to distract from this chaos by doing the only thing he can do: cause chaos and turmoil.”

Fears that Independence Day will become the Brazilian version of the attack on the United States Congress on January 6 – a kind of “self-coup” by Bolsonaro to consolidate his powers – however, some observers consider Bolsonaro’s fears to be exaggerated. Obtain the necessary support for such a procedure.

Bolsonaro presented himself in the 2018 election as an independent, clearly inspired by Donald Trump, using nationalism, populism, machismo and fake news to increase his support. He presented himself as the savior of Brazil, winning with 55 percent of the vote, with the support of the country’s richest and whitest regions and the most conservative groups, especially among farmers, ranchers and evangelicals. The far right and admirer of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985, since the beginning of his presidency, appointed many military and ex-soldiers to positions of power.

However, his broad support seems to have dwindled, or so Polls. The repeated requests for accountability and corruption cases associated with the procurement of vaccines and the abdication and rotation of many ministers in the government, resignation Of the three most important military leaders in the country, disagreements with the judicial authorities, and the mismanagement of the epidemic that has caused the deaths of nearly 600,000 people in the country. Investigation The Parliamentarian in the same administration actually produced a significant drop in consensus towards him.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, the Brazilian president has been They constantly mocked the seriousness of the problem and reduced its sizeFor example, he refused to wear masks at public events and criticized governors and mayors who have imposed restrictions to control the spread of the virus. After that, Bolsonaro took a stand against vaccinations, going so far as to declare that they could turn people into crocodiles. But his efforts did not do much: the percentage of people who opposed the vaccine It has gradually diminished And its head of government, Luis Eduardo Ramos, 64, received the vaccine (Ramos admitted he received the vaccination during a meeting he didn’t know he was on record for, saying he should secretly get the shot.)

Under pressure In much of the country’s public opinion, including important proponents of the financial world, Bolsonaro has gradually changed some of his positions on the pandemic and towards vaccines, saying that 2021 will be “Brazilian vaccination yearAnd that the country will soon return to normal. According to many, it was a new and clumsy attempt to address their political difficulties.

Bolsonaro has also tried to reassert himself politically, giving power demonstrations to the country, but with poor results: parades of motorcyclists and military exhibitions, such as the one outside the presidential palace in Brasilia last August, which his opponents deemed “pathetic”. trying to intimidate Congress.

Indeed, on the day of the presentation, a very important vote in Congress was scheduled to take place, the vote on constitutional reform proposed by Bolsonaro to reintroduce paper documents in electoral processes, rather than electronic voting. The proposal was rejected, but Bolsonaro continued to campaign personally in favor of regime change, threatening not to celebrate or not recognize the outcome of the 2022 presidential election if the vote was not re-run. a sheet . His critics say Bolsonaro, like his political mentor, former US President Donald Trump, is raising doubts if he loses the election.

A great cause for concern, for Bolsonaro, is in fact the return to politics of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who for many years was the leader of the Workers’ Party, the main Brazilian left party. Lula was convicted of corruption in 2017 by a judge political bias And that Bolsonaro appointed him Minister of Justice. Lula has been acquitted and released from prison, thus he will be able to run in the 2022 presidential election. Polls show that he is the frontrunner and that if he votes today, he could defeat Bolsonaro by a large margin.