(Sao Paulo) Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of Sao Paulo on Sunday in support of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro who denounced his ineligibility during this show of force.
“We cannot accept that any power can exclude someone from the political scene, unless it is for a valid reason. We cannot envisage elections by disqualifying opponents,” he told the crowd of his supporters.
The former president, wearing a yellow jersey of the Brazilian football team, a symbol appropriated by the Bolsonaristas, was declared ineligible last year until 2030 for disinformation.
Targeted by an investigation into a supposed “coup attempt” to stave off his electoral defeat in 2022 against the current left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, he once again denied any involvement.
“What is a coup? Tanks in the streets, weapons, plots. None of this happened in Brazil,” he said, also asking for “an amnesty for the poor buggers who are imprisoned in Brasilia” after having sacked the places of power on January 8, 2023, a week after Lula’s inauguration.
PHOTO NELSON ALMEIDA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro take part in a rally in Sao Paulo, Brazil, February 25, 2024.
In his speech he also called himself “persecuted” again. “I seek pacification, to erase the past and find a way to live in peace,” he assured.
Also dressed in green and yellow, his supporters gathered en masse on Paulista Avenue, the emblematic artery of the largest metropolis in Latin America. The organizers expected around 500,000 people.
“God, country and family”
In the crowd, Wilson Aseka, who traveled some 700 kilometers from the neighboring state of Minas Gerais, is certain that “Bolsonaro is an honest person, a victim of persecution”. The 63-year-old man, Brazilian flag around his neck, believes that it is “important to support him, because he represents God, the homeland and the family”, the slogan of the former president.
“Brazil is with him, we are not concerned about others, but about the fact that he represents us again,” says Giovanna Bruneta, a 36-year-old lawyer.
On February 8, Jair Bolsonaro was prohibited from leaving Brazilian territory following a large-scale police operation which targeted several former close collaborators, including ex-ministers and high-ranking soldiers, with dozens searches and arrests.
The former president remained silent on Thursday in the face of Federal Police investigators who had summoned him in connection with this affair.
The former army captain is also the target of other investigations, in particular for suspicion of falsification of vaccination certificates against COVID-19 or the alleged misappropriation of gifts received from foreign countries, including jewelry offered by the Saudi Arabia.
Despite these scandals, he is still considered the leader of the opposition and remains adored by his supporters. He intends to use his influence despite his ineligibility to elect allies during the municipal elections in October, in a country that is still very polarized.
“The people are with him”
On Paulista Avenue, beyond the influx of his supporters, the presence of opposition political figures should make it possible to gauge the extent of his support.
“If there is a lot of support, he will be able to say that the people are with him. Otherwise, it will lose all legitimacy,” said André Rosa, political scientist from the University of Brasilia (UDF).
PHOTO CARLA CARNIEL, REUTERS
His supporters gathered en masse on Paulista Avenue, the emblematic artery of Latin America’s largest metropolis. The organizers expected around 500,000 people.
“On the 25th, I’m going to Brazil. It will be gigantic! » published on X the deputy Bia Kicis, from Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.
The demonstration is organized among others by Pastor Silas Malafaia, very influential among the millions of evangelical Brazilians, one of the bases of the Bolsonarist electoral base.
Israeli flags also fly among the multitude in a sign of disagreement with the words of Lula who last Sunday compared the Israeli offensive in Gaza to the Holocaust, provoking a diplomatic crisis with Israel. The former president himself waved an Israeli flag on the stage installed on a truck.