President Bolsonaro heads huge rallies for Independence Day

A bicentennial of independence under high tension in Brazil.

This September 7, a national day in the South American country, President Jair Bolsonaro gathered tens of thousands of his supporters during a military parade in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, and in the city of Rio de Janeiro, thus sweeping away criticism from the opposition that accuses him of using this date of symbolic importance, for his electoral objectives.

And it is that less than four weeks before the most polarized elections in the country’s recent history, the Brazilian president wanted to make this commemoration a show of strength.

In Brasilia, after the military parade, Bolsonaro delivered a fiery speech to a crowd of supporters dressed in green and yellow, the colors of the national flag and his party.

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“I have never seen such a large sea with its green and yellow colors,” said Bolsonaro, before launching into a fiery speech recalling the ultraconservative values ​​of his government, which “has no intention of legalizing abortion” or drugs or “promoting gender ideology”, but respects the Constitution.

“Our fight is a fight between good and evil,” the former army captain told supporters, amid shouts of “Lula, thief” and banners calling for military intervention against the Supreme Court.

“They want to go back to the scene of the crime,” added the president against his opponents from the Workers’ Party (PT) led by former president Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, who ruled Brazil for 14 years. “They will not return,” Bolsonaro assured.

“Let’s convince those who think differently from us, let’s convince them of what is best for our Brazil,” he continued.

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A campaign marked by verbal virulence that raises fears of post-election violence

In recent months, in addition to lashing out at his political opponents, Bolsonaro has repeatedly attacked Supreme Court judges and has claimed, without providing evidence, that the country’s electronic voting system will allow widespread fraud.

Many jurists reject these accusations, while Bolsonaro’s detractors accuse him of wanting to sow doubt before the elections in order to more easily challenge the results. A method already used by former US President Donald Trump, who is often cited as a model by the Brazilian president.

The president’s repeated attacks on the Supreme Court, the voting system and his political opponents have led some of his most radical supporters to call for a military coup, fueling fears of post-election violence.

Most polls give victory to former president and leftist leader Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva. But in his speech this Wednesday, Bolsonaro denounced that the opinion polls of the main institute, Datafolha – whose latest poll places him far behind Lula, with 45% compared to 32% in the first round – are “false”.

Lula, who urged Brazilians to support him at the polls to “build an alternative path to the incompetence and authoritarianism that governs us,” has rallies scheduled for Thursday and a meeting with the evangelical sector, a key electoral bloc, on Friday.

His lawyers announced that they will formally denounce the case before the Supreme Electoral Court, arguing that President Bolsonaro used September 7 “as a candidate” for “a mega electoral meeting.”

Concentrations also in the city of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo

After Brasilia, Bolsonaro continued the bicentennial celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, along Copacabana beach, where a parade of dozens of “jet skis” took place and thousands of ardent supporters gathered in the late morning hours. .

Among them was Suely Ferreira, 64, who carried a banner asking Bolsonaro “to mobilize the armed forces to depose the judges of the Supreme Court.” “It is a dictatorship that is ruining the country,” she asserted, referring to the highest court.

“This demonstration is very important to show the world that our president is loved,” he told the AFP news agency.

The head of state insisted that this year the soldiers would march in the place where the demonstrations of his supporters usually take place, while, traditionally, the military parade in Rio is held about 15 kilometers away.

This decision caught the city council off guard: Atlantic Avenue, which follows the coastline in Copacabana, is much narrower than the central avenue. Finally a compromise was reached: instead of tanks, there were warships in the ocean and military planes in the sky, as well as parachuting demonstrations.

To summon the largest possible number of protesters both in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro, an intense campaign was carried out on social networks. Youtubers sympathetic to Bolsonaro launched online appeals for donations and one of the president’s sons, the pro-gun deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, invited Brazilians who “have bought a gun legally” to volunteer for his father’s campaign.

In Sao Paulo, a human tide of green and yellow also concentrated on the long Avenida Paulista, while marches took place in dozens of other Brazilian cities.

“The demonstrations show that (Bolsonaro) has a mobilized base,” Adriano Laureno, a political analyst, told AFP, but his speeches are “more to mobilize his own base than to win new votes.”

Last year, on Independence Day, Bolsonaro had also struck a provocative tone, saying “only God” could remove him from office. “Only God will make me leave Brasilia,” he had shouted before a crowd of more than 100,000 supporters in Sao Paulo.

AFP, Reuters