translated from Spanish: Tension rises in Brazil after Bolsonaro’s call for demonstrations

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and the far right have called for demonstrations for “freedom” on Tuesday, which many fear could lead to the “coup” that the most radical conservatives demand from the ruler. The pressure of these groups for a “military intervention” that “closes” the Parliament and the Supreme Court but keeps the leader of the ultra-right in power has put on alert the democratic forces and the economic and social sectors of the country.Organizations of businessmen, banks, large agricultural corporations, political parties of almost the entire ideological arc, Parliament, Justice and even the Episcopate have already expressed their repudiation of any attempt at democratic rupture. That dense climate has had an impact on the outside. The Progressive International expressed its “deep concern about the imminent threat to Brazil’s democratic institutions,” in a document signed by personalities from 26 countries, including some former presidents. Among others, it is signed by the Spanish José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Paraguayan Fernando Lugo, the Colombian Ernesto Samper, the Panamanian Martín Torrijos and the Ecuadorian Rafael Correa.La US embassy, for its part, has asked the citizens of that country who reside in Brazil to “avoid the areas around demonstrations”, because “those that pretend to be peaceful can become conflictive”. Tensions have grown since last year, now exacerbated by Bolsonaro’s distrust of the electronic voting system brazil adopted in 1996, which since then has not been the subject of a single allegation of fraud, but which the president says leads to cheating. Those claims, which Bolsonaro admits he cannot prove, have coincided with the plummeting of his approval to a meager 25% and polls that predict a resounding victory in the 2022 elections of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.In the midst of his campaign to discredit electronic voting, Bolsonaro has come to affirm that in 2022 “there will be no elections” if a system of voting on ballots is not adopted in parallel, Bolsonaro, suspected of corruption in the negotiation of anti-covid vaccines and other irregularities, is also investigated by the Supreme Court in a process on the dissemination of false news and threats to democracy that has already led to the imprisonment of numerous far-right activists. Some detainees showed themselves on social networks armed to the teeth and urged that in the protests on Tuesday, when Independence Day is celebrated, demonstrators “invade” Parliament and the Supreme Court and even “murder” judges and politicians. Among those more extreme groups are evangelist pastors, truckers’ guilds, military police officers, and supporters of the global ultraconservative movement sponsored by Steve Bannon, a former adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro, a captain in the Army reserve, has criticized these detentions, saying he does not want a “rupture” and saying that “everyone must fit into the Constitution” and respect the rights to “freedom” and “opinion.” He has also declared, in a dramatic tone, that the current scenario poses three alternatives: “Go to prison, die or victory.” Although he has warned that Tuesday’s demonstrations will be an “ultimatum” for those who “attack” the Constitution, Bolsonaro has lowered the tone and asked to march for “freedom”, “conservative values”, “family, private property and God”. The largest demonstrations are scheduled to be held in Brasilia and Sao Paulo, where Bolsonaro has guaranteed attendance. In Brasilia, hundreds of people have already camped on the Esplanade of the Ministries, an avenue that concentrates all the buildings of public power, including the headquarters of the Parliament and the Supreme Court, but in which the transit of vehicles was prohibited on Monday and will only be released again next Wednesday. All in the midst of a strong police reinforcement, which in the case of Brasilia has been observed even on the roads leading to the capital, through which the arrival of Bolsonarist caravans is expected for the demonstration on Tuesday.

Original source in Spanish