Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decided to ignore the 60th anniversary of the coup d'état which on 31 March 1964 established a military dictatorship in Brazil, which remained in power until 1988, an initiative defined as "a brutal mistake" - in a interview with ANSA - Vera Paiva, daughter of the engineer and deputy Rubens, arrested, tortured and killed during the military dictatorship.
"It's as if we're denying the history of World War II. It's as if Italy is ignoring fascist actions. It's as if we're saying it doesn't matter," says Paiva.
Paiva, professor at the Institute of Psychology at the University of São Paulo (Usp), like many others in the country, criticizes the head of state's choice not to organize events to denounce the abuses of the military junta. A decision, that of Lula, which is interpreted as an attempt at reconciliation between the government and the Armed Forces, at a time when, however, the investigations into the attempted coup d'état of 8 January 2023 indicate an increasingly broad participation of the military in the coup plot.
For 65% of Brazilians the devastation in Brasilia was just "an act of vandalism"
Only 30% of Brazilians, however, believe that the invasion and devastation of the Palaces of Democracy on January 8, 2023, in Brasilia, was an attempted coup d'état. For the majority - 65% - it was an act of vandalism. This was revealed by a new survey by Datafolha.
The survey was carried out on a sample of 2,002 people in 147 cities, between 19 and 20 March. 5% of respondents did not express an opinion. The margin of error is plus or minus two points.
According to Datafolha, 77% of those who voted for the right-wing former president, Jair Bolsonaro, think that the attacks of January 8, 2023 were an episode of vandalism, compared to 52% of those who voted for Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in the second round. The idea that it was a coup attempt reaches 46% of the current president's voters and 16% of those who supported his predecessor.
When asked about their party preference, 45% of those who say they support Lula's PT say it was a coup attempt, while 78% of those who say they prefer Bolsonaro's PL say that it was an act of vandalism
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