ReportingAmid threats of a coup, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched to defend the Brazilian president, weakened by record unpopularity, judicial inquiries and repeated crises.
He was said to be cornered, tottering. On the very edge of the abyss, weakened by record unpopularity, multiple judicial inquiries and repeated crises. But maybe he was buried a little early. Against all odds, Jair Bolsonaro managed, Tuesday, September 7, to mobilize his supporters en masse in the streets of Brazil, on the occasion of national independence day.
Against the backdrop of threats of a coup, tens of thousands of demonstrators everywhere marched to defend their president in bad shape. The biggest gathering logically took place in Sao Paulo, economic capital and largest metropolis of the country, on the Paulista, this “Ve Local avenue where banks, museums and places of power line up. And where, traditionally, the great popular mobilizations take place.
This Tuesday, they were more than 125,000, according to the police, under the sun and in a carnival atmosphere, between cold beers and grills, flags auriverdes and Seleçao jerseys. On balloons, t-shirts and anti-Covid-19 masks, hero of the day Jair Bolsonaro has been depicted weapon in hand as a brave soldier, on horseback like a cowboy, as the Hulk and other Marvel characters or as a saint, surrounded by Jesus and lions of Judah.
Everything is perfectly orchestrated. The mobilization has been preparing for weeks, organized at the highest summit of the State. In recent days, dozens of buses have converged on Sao Paulo. Slogan? “Down with justice! “, accused of obstructing the president’s action. “The Federal Supreme Court [STF, plus haute juridiction du pays] is infiltrated by the Communists. They want us to become like Venezuela, Cuba or North Korea: destroyed countries! “, ton Gilson, 54, retired firefighter, wearing an orange cap.
“Bolsonaro is persecuted”
Target of popular revenge, Alexandre de Moraes, one of the eleven STF judges and bête noire of the demonstrators, appears grimaced as a vampire or a Taliban. His unforgivable sin: to have ordered in August the opening of an investigation against Jair Bolsonaro, for disseminating false information. The man is also vilified for his opposition to the return of the paper ballot vote, old antiphon of the supporters of the president.
“Yes to democracy! Yes to freedom! “, has written Ida Silva, 39, on his sign, in Portuguese but also in English. There are many slogans written in foreign languages. ” Our message is intended for the world. We want to show that the honest and hardworking people are with Bolsonaro and not with the Workers’ Party [PT] by Lula! “, proclaims the protester – and too bad if only a quarter of Brazilians today approve of the president’s action.
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