"Lula, you thief": Brazil after the election - Bolsonaro hardliners do not want to accept the result

Created: 03/11/2022, 16:43

By: Lisa Kuner

Better a coup than a Lula: Truck drivers are blocking the streets in Brazil to protest the Social Democrats' election victory over the outgoing Prime Minister Bolsonaro.

© Andre Penner/dpa

In the presidential elections in Brazil on Sunday, the left-wing social democrat Lula won by a hair's breadth.

Not everyone wants to accept that - how things will continue is still open.

RIO DE JANEIRO - Several thousand people gathered in front of the Duque de Caixas Palace, the central military base of Rio de Janeiro, on Wednesday.

Many of them wear the Brazilian national colors of green and yellow.

The national anthem blares from loudspeakers, flags are waved.

Chanting, "Lula, you thief.

Your place is in prison” or “Our flag will never be red”.

Street vendors sell beer and popcorn.

On Sunday, the Brazilians elected a new president.

The election was considered one of the most important of the past decades.

Right-wing extremist President Jair Bolsonaro has severely weakened democracy in the country in four years in office and caused negative headlines worldwide with increasing deforestation rates.

Former President and left-wing Social Democrat Lula da Silva narrowly won the election.

The 77-year-old got 50.9 percent of the votes.

Jair Bolsonaro, 67, lost 49.1 percent.

This narrow result of the runoff shows how polarized Brazil is at the moment.

Brazil election: Lula wins against Bolsonaro - protests across the country

Not all Bolsonaro supporters want to accept the result.

Roadblocks have been in place across the country since Sunday night.

These street blockades were started by truck drivers known to support Bolsonaro.

On Wednesday, the All Souls Day holiday in Brazil, there were demonstrations in various places in the country - against Lula and for Bolsonaro to remain in office.

"I'm here for democracy, for Brazil, for freedom, for my homeland, for the family," says demonstrator João Santos in Rio de Janeiro.

These values ​​are reason enough to spend a holiday in the pouring rain on the street.

Other demonstrators take a similar view - they say they are defending the Brazilian constitution.

The protesters are convinced that the election was fraudulent.

Election observers see no signs of this, and no irregularities have been reported.

"I love my country," says protester Ana Maria Navarro Leitão.

“But now we are being betrayed and our rights are being taken away from us.

There was fraud at the ballot box.”

As a consequence of this alleged electoral fraud, Bolsonaro's supporters want a "military intervention", in other words: a coup d'état.

"We want an intervention, which means that power is taken over by the military," says protester Nilton Quioñes.

"It's the best opportunity for Brazil right now." Such demands seem particularly absurd when one recalls that the military dictatorship in Brazil only ended in 1985 with torture, unprovoked murders and enforced disappearances.

Lula wins Brazil election: Bolsonaro has held back so far

In the run-up to the elections, incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro had repeatedly cast doubt on the Brazilian electoral system and suggested possible electoral fraud.

However, he had no evidence for these claims.

After the election on Sunday, he took his time until Tuesday evening to even go public.

When Bolsonaro finally spoke, his speech was less than two minutes long and left open whether he would recognize the election defeat.

Then radio station again.

His chief of staff said at least that the handover of government would be prepared.

All in all, this is a more peaceful and quiet election outcome than many expected.

In the run-up to the election, many experts spoke of possible unrest, institutional upheaval or even a possible coup.

Jair Bolsonaro's power does not seem to have been enough for all of this: many of his political partners have recognized the election defeat, and foreign heads of state have already congratulated Lula on his victory.

Many people who voted for Bolsonaro have now acknowledged the defeat and want to return to normality after months of intense election campaigning.

There are some indications that there will be no great chaos after the election.

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Brazil: Extreme Bolsonaro supporters remain a challenge

However, the four turbulent years of Jair Bolsonaro's government do not seem to end without excitement.

Many roadblocks remain after three days, leading to food and medicine deliveries not arriving in some parts of the country.

Nevertheless, the highway police let the demonstrators do as they please in many places and only hesitantly counteract the blockades.

Bolsonaro said in a video message on Wednesday evening that he did not consider the roadblocks to be a suitable means of protest, but that other demonstrations were welcome.

A small but very loud minority is responsible for the protests in Brazil.

Many of the protesters are almost fanatically convinced of Bolsonaro - and they will not give up their positions anytime soon.

These Bolsonaro hardliners trust neither the traditional media in the country nor the democratic institutions.

The number one enemy is the Supreme Court of Brazil.

Not all of them, but some of them, can be assigned to the extreme right - they reject basic democratic values.

At the demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, for example, some demonstrators openly admit that they would rather see a violent coup than see Brazil go “socialist” under Lula.

Even without Bolsonaro at the head of government, "Bolsonarianism" will remain in the country as its political legacy for a long time to come.

Dealing with this will be a major challenge for the democratic forces in the coming years.

The newly elected President Lula struck a conciliatory tone in his victory speech on Sunday.

“There are no two Brazils.

We are one state," he said.

How Lula wants to unite the polarized camps is still completely open.