This September 7, the 199th anniversary of Brazil's independence from Portugal, is the day chosen by President Jair Bolsonaro to make a show of force in the streets. With patriotism and freedom as flags, the ultra-rightist has summoned his faithful to take to the streets of Brasilia and São Paulo. The ultimate objective of the mobilization is to garner popular support for the fight against the Judiciary and the systematic attack on the division of powers and to try to reverse the polls that reflect a declining popularity in the midst of the economic crisis and a serious drought.
Bolsonaro has arrived at the Brasilia protest wearing the presidential sash and in style, aboard a Rolls Royce driven by former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet. His speech, in a messianic tone and before a crowd, has included a coup threat to the Supreme Court justices who are investigating him for spreading false news: ) or that power can suffer what we do not want, ”he proclaimed in the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, the heart of Brazilian democracy. “Today is the day of the Brazilian people, who are going to give us a direction, where Brazil should go. Today I just want to be his spokesperson, "he said. Rejection of the president in the polls has never been as high as now.
Left-wing organizations have also called anti-bondage protests in both cities.
And an indigenous camp in Brasilia is another possible sticking point.
Thousands of police are deployed to prevent violent incidents.
As a good populist, the far-right president constantly speaks of the people and stands, above Congress, as the maximum interpreter of popular wishes.
His constant attacks on the separation of powers and his authoritarian gestures periodically fan the fear of a self-coup or some kind of bankruptcy of the constitutional order in the third largest democracy in the world.
The Brazilian president and his followers persistently repeat the argument that other institutions prevent him from governing in defense of the interests of the people.
In the marches on Tuesday, banners have been seen again demanding "a military intervention now" or criticizing the alleged "dictatorship of the toga."
This is how they interpret the decisions of the institutions that act as a democratic counterweight, such as the Supreme Court or Congress.
The Brasilia march started early.
The one in São Paulo is in the evening.
As he has done in the political capital, the president is expected to attend and give a speech in the economic capital as well.
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Aerial view of the Bolsonarista demonstration this Tuesday in Brasilia.
MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP
This mobilization is preceded by weeks of enormous tension, threatening statements by Bolsonaro against Supreme Court judges, and arrests of several Bolsonaristas accused of making threats against magistrates or instigating the violent assault on Trumpistas-style institutions on Capitol Hill after losing. their leader the elections.
Brasilia attended on Monday night the first moments of tension of this Independence Day in which the Brazilians who have been able have gone on the bridge.
The Bolsonarians who arrived in the capital to demonstrate forced the breaking of the police barrier that prevented driving through the area where the rally is being held this Tuesday.
Bolsonarismo has been campaigning for weeks to mobilize some of the groups that gave the most solid support to the extreme right in the 2018 elections. Among them, the military police and the evangelicals stand out.
Bolsonaro has won over the former by supporting his salary demands throughout his political career and, now from the government, with the systematic easing of arms sales.
In the second, with the defense of an ultra-conservative agenda for which the Supreme Court would be a threat.
Bolsonaro intends to reactivate his political base at a time when the health crisis subsides, although the covid has killed 580,000 Brazilians, but the economic crisis is pressing, it is preying on the poorest and the most serious drought in the last century wreaks havoc and threatens reactivation.
Another element in the confrontation with the main institutions that act as a democratic counterweight in Brazil is the voting system. President Bolsonaro is immersed in a crusade to change it, arguing that the electronic ballot box used 25 years ago is not reliable, although a single case of fraud has never been confirmed. For the moment the electoral authorities and Congress have stopped their attempts. With his strategy of sowing doubts about the count, he may be preparing the ground for, emulating Donald Trump, questioning the result if Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeats him in October 2022, if both confirm his candidacy.
While the far-right is dedicated to leading demonstrations and inaugurating works, the leftist Lula, who leads the polls, seeks regional alliances to build a candidacy and lessen the fears and rejection that it still generates in certain areas such as the economic power or the more conservative population .
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