Brazil's left takes to the streets against Bolsonaro for the first time in a pandemic

An anti-colonist protester this Saturday in Rio de Janeiro Bruna Prado / AP

The protests against President Jair Bolsonaro have been heard, for the first time in a pandemic, loud and clear on the streets of Brazil. Thousands of people called by left-wing movements have marched to the cry of "Fora Bolsonaro" in dozens of cities against the extreme right and in favor of the vaccine, the payment of the coronavirus and Lula da Silva. "I am here because this is a genocidal and racist government that uses the pandemic to destroy health, education, our environmental reserves ...", explains Professor Josiane Peçanha, from the Movement Black Lives Matter, while marching down a central avenue in Rio de Janeiro

In these 14 months of health crisis, the protests against the far-right populist leader have been basically confined to the virtual world, to social networks.

Specifically, there have been some cacerolas against Bolsonaro, but little more because of the pandemic although discontent and indignation were increasing.

Until this Saturday the left had refused to mobilize in the streets to avoid spreading the disease.

And also to distinguish themselves from the president and his followers, who in the last year have starred in all kinds of acts as if there were no pandemic.

With crowds and without masks, the Bolsonarist marches against the confinement measures, the Supreme Court, the governors and in favor of Bolsonaro have been one of the tonic of the pandemic in Brazil.

Rio's anti-colsonaristas were more eager than the average on the left because the president walked through the city, the political cradle of the Bolsonaro clan, last weekend accompanied by hundreds of motorists.

The national mobilization on Saturday, with marches in more than one hundred cities, was called by social movements such as Pueblo Sin Miedo or the Black Coalition for Rights.

Lula's Workers Party (PT) and the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) supported the demonstrations, but the former president did not join them.

With the two convictions overturned, Lula has been rising in the polls in recent weeks.

This factor has been joined by the accumulation of victims of the coronavirus, which has already killed almost 460,000 Brazilians, and the revelations of the Senate investigation commission, which in the last month has been reeling off how the Bolsonaro government was slow to buy. vaccines while supporting the production of ineffective covid drugs.

That is the context in which these first mobilizations against the president have germinated.

The protesters complied with the rules imposed by the organizers: FFP2 masks, distance between one and the other and those who belong to risk groups abstain.

The retired nurse Amanda Araujo, 70, considers that the situation is serious enough to take the risk of protesting in the street. He explains that he has come to the protest to "defend democracy, restore order and dignity." Bring a package of food to donate because the health crisis has shot unemployment to 14.7%, and hunger stalks millions of Brazilians. Another of the most repeated slogans was "Vaccine in the arm, food on the plate."

The left has a long list of demands: ousting Bolsonaro, speeding up vaccination (weighed down by the government's initial disregard for pharmaceutical companies' offers) and raising the amount of the coronavirus pay (which has fallen to 30 euros per month of the original 95). There have also been many proclamations in favor of public health, from the Butantan and Fiocruz public health institutes, which produce covid vaccines, against cuts in education, against the militarization of the Government, systemic racism, against privatizations , etc.

Lula's political resurrection has been an earthquake. From one day to the next, President Bolsonaro encountered a rival. The polls show the advance of anti-colonialism and the retreat of anti-Peteticism that culminated in the removal of Dilma Rousseff from the Presidency. Lula is already embarking on seeking allies with whom to build an electoral alternative to the far-right president for the elections at the end of next year.

“I know people who regret having voted for Bolsonaro, but I don't know if they will vote for Lula,” explains 33-year-old professor Fernanda Capello. "He had to come because I think that if we don't give him a little push, I'm afraid Bolsonaro won't leave," he adds. Other protesters have also noticed a certain change in the public's mood: “I begin to see people who are ashamed of having voted null (in the 2018 elections), which was like voting for Bolsonaro,” explains Vanessa Jardim, 53 years old and executive producer in the film industry, while proudly displaying the PT acronym on her red mask.

“I'm happy because everyone is wearing a mask, without crowds. That is more important than the size (of the protest), ”says Luana Souza, 26, hinting at some disappointment with the influx. "We have to end this inertia that nothing can be done to kick him out," underlines his friend Fernanda Gomes, 32.