Brazil in the German press February 11 February 11 2022

Brazil in the German press (February 11) February 11, 2022

New Germany Bolsonaro incites riot (02/11)

Eliane Mouco calls herself a patriot, that’s why she’s here. “We don’t accept the election result. There was fraud.” Wrapped in a national flag, the 37yearold sits on a piece of cardboard on a highway in São Paulo. Together with about 40 fellow believers, she blocked one of the entrances to Guarulhos International Airport. The group arrived 12 hours ago with one purpose: to protest the “stolen election” through a roadblock. The same goes for other parts of the country.

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The pressure on the loser is great. Some of his close allies recognized the choice, and several prominent heads of state congratulated Lula. It is said that certain of Bolsonaro’s helpers tried to persuade him to give in. But for the president, the radical electoral base is important. If he bows to pressure, he can be seen as weak and incoherent. Keeping them connected and speculating about unrest in the country could be a tactic.

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Some Bolsonaro fans are openly calling for military intervention, spreading rumors that the army will intervene in 72 hours. When asked if everything remains peaceful, a Bolsonarista just shrugs and smiles sardonically.

So far, it has mainly been protests by individuals who have organized themselves on social media. But if the number of demonstrations increases, it can become dangerous. Some fear images like those of January 6, 2021 in Washington, when radical Trump supporters marched on Capitol Hill. For fear of unrest, the Esplanada dos Ministérios was closed as a precaution.

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It is more than questionable whether roadblocks will change the exchange of power in any way. But the protests show that Bolsonarianism is strong, even without direct speeches from Bolsonaro. An active movement has really started, not only on the Internet.

What if Bolsonaro acknowledges the results of the polls? “We won’t give up,” says Eliane Mouco. “Let’s keep fighting for freedom.” Meanwhile, this Tuesday, the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST) called on its activists to help dismantle the barricades in the face of police inaction. But confrontations with Bolsonaristas should be avoided.

Süddeutsche Zeitung The great example of the North (02/11)

Joe Biden immediately congratulated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as is usual among Democrats. On Sunday, the US President immediately congratulated Brazil’s future counterpart after his victory in “free, fair and credible elections,” according to the White House.

In this way, Washington quickly recognized Lula. But in North America there is another wellknown politician who can be considered Jair Bolsonaro’s idol. At worst, Brazil’s near future will be guided by his booklet, Donald Trump.

To date, Trump has not publicly admitted his defeat in the 2020 American presidential election, on the contrary: For more than two years, Republicans and their allies have been raging about a “great fraud”: Biden would have stolen the victory although the result in favor of the Democrats has been documented beyond a doubt .

“The big lie” is the name of this version. Its venom has seeped deep into American society — at least into the part that still reveres Trump for all his scandals, or because of them, and wants him back in the Oval Office for the 2024 presidential election.

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The Trump case eloquently shows that a person does not disappear just because they were officially removed by vote.

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Bolsonaro’s son Flávio, a senator, used almost identical words as Trump and tweeted on Wednesday, before his father’s defeat in the second round, about “the greatest electoral fraud ever”. Another son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, maintains close ties to rightwing extremist circles in the United States that campaign for his father. According to Darren Beattie, who wrote speeches for Trump, Bolsonaro defends the kind of nationalism “that we want and support.” Lula represents “the most destructive and destructive form” of communism.

The United States of America shows what constant repeated suspicions and constant attacks lead to. Political violence, particularly on the right, has increased significantly see the January 6, 2021 Capitol invasion or more recently the bombing of Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s home.

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The question is what Trump’s tactics mean for Bolsonaro. There is “no way that the result of the electronic voting machines is correct,” former Trumpist agitator Steve Bannon told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. “We need vote after vote, even if it takes six months.” In the meantime, the President must not settle for resignation.

That sounds like the strategy used by Trump and his allies, who called for recounts after November 2020. […] In a live stream with fellow believers in the US, Steve Bannon, who advised Trump that Bolsonaro couldn’t back down, said “impossible”.

Berliner Zeitung From Prison to Victory (01/11)

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In his first speech, Lula declared that he will be president for all Brazilians, not just those who elected him. During the election campaign, too, he presented himself as a great mediator. But it won’t be easy.

Bolsonaro may have lagged behind Lula, but he did well in the elections. Your party will have the strongest bench in the House of Representatives. Brazil’s three most populous states, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, are ruled by Bolsonarist allies. Lula will have to fight hard to get majorities. He is aware of this, and in politics he is now moving sharply towards the centre.

And like Bolsonaro, Lula is a figure hated by many Brazilians. Gone are the years of cheering [de sua presidência]It wasn’t long before “Lula: Thief” was shouted at the demonstrations and puppets of the expresident dressed as a prisoner were being held up in the air.

Since 2014, the Workers’ Party has become a projection screen for an entire nation’s disappointment. After the beginning of a serious economic crisis, but above all the uncovering of gigantic corruption scandals, Lula was suddenly considered the head of a criminal network.

Lula’s successor and political goddaughter Dilma Rousseff was removed from office in 2016 in a legally questionable impeachment trial. On Sunday she was also in São Paulo: “This victory means a lot to the Brazilians,” she told the Berliner Zeitung. “We showed that we are back.”

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Der Tagesspiegel breathe easy. What’s happening? (01.11)

And what happens now, after the first sigh of relief? Of course, most democratic states in America and Europe are relieved about the outcome of the presidential elections in Brazil. Rightwing Jair Bolsonaro was defeated by leftwing candidate Luiz Lula da Silva; He will not have a second term in which to continue deforesting the Amazon, demonizing his opponents and undermining confidence in democracy.

But what comes after the election? Above all, hopes are raised that do not correspond to Brazil’s reality: the winner Lula would overcome the country’s political divisions, reconcile the opposing political poles, save the Amazon ecosystem and the climate together, strengthen the democratic order and save the country from supposed international isolation.

If all this is to work, the Brazilians would have been better off electing a different president. Lula is not a being of light. He served as president for two terms, from 2003 to 2011. With her successor, Dilma Rousseff, who was eventually removed from office, she paved the way for a clear victory by Bolsonaro in 2018 to end US exploitation of the state protest wing left. Lula had previously been sentenced to prison. He didn’t have to because the judges said he was biased, but being acquitted of the charges he didn’t go.

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just like the old man [Joe] Biden, 77 years old, Lula already looks like a character from yesterday. She embodies neither the generational change nor the freshness that would be needed to signal both Brazilian society and partners abroad that after a dangerous period of confusion, a new era of stability and reliability has dawned.

Therefore, it is advisable to look at Brazil with humility. Voters narrowly chose Lula, not for her own sake, but to avoid worse. The division of society into hostile factions remains, there are no magic tricks to overcome it.

In this situation, it would be positive if Bolsonaro did not call on his supporters to resist and Brazil would be spared the acid test that the United States had to go through. Here, as there, the most urgent task would be to initiate a generational exchange between candidates and candidates before the next election.

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