BRASILIA – The Bolsonarist movement took to the streets of Brazil this Wednesday, marching to the doors of many barracks and demanding “military intervention” against the electoral victory of progressive leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The demonstrations were massive and peaceful, but clearly anti-democratic, to the point of demanding that the armed forces prevent the Jan. 1 inauguration of Lula, who defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in last Sunday’s election by a minimum margin of 1, had defeated 8 percentage points.
The call was made via social networks, where the far-right groups supporting Bolsonaro are feverishly active, and above all via private messaging services such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
The largest concentrations were in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and in both cases in the headquarters of the army’s regional commands, as was the case in Brasilia, albeit with fewer people.
The slogan was the same in all cases: “Federal intervention”, under Article 34 of the national constitution, which states in one of its points that the central government can intervene if necessary and by any means necessary to ensure the “republican form”, the representative system and the democratic regime”.
The excuse, according to the placards displayed by the protesters, was also the same, namely that a Lula government will lead Brazil to “communism” and impose a regime similar to that in countries like Venezuela or Nicaragua, which is quoted on many banners and the Faithful to Bolsonaro’s discourse in his election campaign.
They have also denounced an alleged fraud, a hypothesis denied by the electoral judiciary and all parties and institutions that have recognized Lula’s victory, as well as hundreds of foreign governments.
TRUCKER BEGIN TO COMPLY AFTER BOLSONARO’S SPEECH
The demonstrations this Wednesday, a public holiday in Brazil for the Day of the Dead, followed massive protests by anti-Bolsonarian truck drivers who have blocked around 600 highways across the country since last Monday to protest Lula’s victory.
As of Wednesday, the roadblocks were holding up at about 150 points in 15 of the country’s 27 states, according to the Highway Police, and in many cases they were only partial, obstructing but not completely preventing traffic.
In some places, like the city of Baruerí in São Paulo, the highways were freed by a determined police intervention, who used tear gas to disperse the truckers, but without clashes or casualties.
Emotions in the trial were sustained up to the last moment in what was already the closest election in the country’s history.
The truckers’ protest began to lose intensity since Bolsonaro conceded defeat and decided that the government should start the transition process with Lula’s team, which is scheduled for this Thursday.
Bolsonaro decided the results of the elections this Tuesday, some 45 hours after the official count condemned the progressive leader’s victory.
In a short speech, he said the protests were “the result of outrage and a sense of injustice at how the electoral process has unfolded”.
He reiterated that “peaceful demonstrations” were “welcome,” but stressed that his methods “cannot be those of the left, which have always harmed the populace,” stressing that no one could prevent “the right to come and go.” .
This Wednesday, Bolsonaro remained silent before the demonstrations outside the gates of the barracks, as did Lula, whose team announced that the president-elect will spend “two or three days” on a beach in the north-east of the country to rest after a tough election campaign.