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Brazil celebrates a week since the presidential elections amid mobilizations in support of the current president Jair Bolsonaro and the leftist Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva. The divisions continue to be present since the candidate of the Workers’ Party defeated the extreme rightist by winning 50.9% of the votes.
Two contrasting scenarios were experienced in the streets of Brazil this Sunday. Demonstrations in favor of the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, were held in different cities of the country, calling for a military intervention to prevent the elected president Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva from establishing power.
In parallel, the leftist received the support of thousands of people who came out in Rio de Janeiro celebrating his arrival at the Planalto Palace early next year.
The protests show a divided Brazil after last Sunday’s elections that gave the ex-union candidate the victory with 50.9% of the votes compared to 49.1% obtained by the far-right. A short difference that warmed the spirits of Bolsonaro’s followers who began to demonstrate shortly after learning the results.
Bolsonarist protests continue, with less intensity
Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia were the scene of protests in support of the current president. There the demonstrators waved Brazilian flags and carried signs that marked messages such as “SOS Brazil” and “Military intervention”.
Some requests that have marked the reaction of certain Bolsonarists during the week after the elections. In front of the military barracks in different parts of the country, the protesters have called for the action of the country’s Army to reverse what they consider to be fraudulent results.
“I am here today because I want the freedom of Brazil. We do not accept communism,” Catia Almeida, one of the protesters, told Reuters.
For his part, Bolsonaro took more than a day to rule on the results. And although he authorized the transition of power, he did not explicitly admit his defeat against the leftist.
Road blocks fade in Brazil
In addition to the mobilizations in front of the military barracks, this week there were various roadblocks in Brazil by truckers and other supporters of the president. However, these have been declining over time.
The latest report from the Federal Highway Police spoke of only five roadblocks in two of the 27 states in the country. The agency assured that these were not generating any complete obstruction of Brazilian roads.
Some announcements that came after a week in which alarms went off about a possible fuel shortage in some parts of the country.
The president also ruled on this type of protest on Wednesday and asked that free movement be allowed. However, he assured that the other demonstrations were legitimate.
The ‘lulista’ euphoria takes over Copacabana
The indignation and discomfort of the Bolsonarist demonstrations contrasted with the ‘CarnaLula’, a celebration of the leftist’s victory in Rio de Janeiro.
With music, songs and dances, the followers of the former trade unionist assured that their concentration seeks to “exorcize” the country of Bolsonaroism and the extreme right.
“Today is the day to exorcise Jair Bolsonaro, exorcise the right, end prejudice, end xenophobia, homophobia. Enough is enough. Brazil does not deserve it,” Arnaldo Araujo, an assistant, told AFP. to the mobilization.
Despite the tense panorama and the divided positions, on Friday representatives of the PT visited the facilities where the junction between the two governments will take place.
When ‘Lula’ reaches the Presidency on January 1, 2023 and begins to exercise his position, it will mark another milestone in the political history of Brazil, being the first to obtain three terms.
With AFP, AP and Reuters
