After 45 hours of silencethe president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, refrained from explicitly acknowledging his defeat against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and claimed to have lost the elections because he had to face “the entire system.” The drawn face of the retired captain was more eloquent than his terse words. Bolsonaro thanked the 58 million people who voted for him and considered that the blockades that the extreme right carried out throughout the country were consequently a “feeling of injustice and indignation because of how the electoral process unfolded”. However, he called on his supporters to desist from those measures that had begun to provoke shortage problems and flight cancellations at airports. “Peaceful demonstrations will always be welcome, but we cannot adopt the methods of the left”remarked in a speech that barely lasted two minutes.
For months, Bolsonaro has questioned, without evidence, the electronic voting system raising fears of a possible rejection of the electoral result. The silence, which extended throughout Monday, did nothing but accentuate those suspicions.
The president, who must hand over power on January 1, this time refrained from his rhetorical outbursts and limited himself to reading the brief speech. Bolsonaro said that, despite the setback, the extreme right has “really” emerged in Brazil. “Our strength and values are God, country and freedom. We are still more alive than ever, we are order and progress. We have overcome the pandemic and the consequences of war. I have always been labeled as antidemocraticbut I always played within the Constitution.” In this sense, he assured that he will continue to fulfill his mandate within the framework of the current institutional framework.
Start of transition
After that brief intervention by the president, the chief minister, Ciro Nogueira, was much more fleeting in his announcement. He only informed that he will command, as of Thursday, the process of transition with the vice president-elect, Gerald Alckmin.
Bolsonaro’s silence caused a predictable crisis. Some analysts agreed to define the far-right protests as a “mini capitol“, alluding to the reactions of supporters of donald trump who tried to prevent the assumption of Joe Biden in United States. “In Bolsonaro’s Brazil, history repeats itself like a riot,” said the Rio de Janeiro newspaper Or Balloon. The Supreme Court was forced to communicate with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) and government ministers to try to convince Bolsonaro that he should speak.
Bolsonaro was practically isolated on Sunday night. The first blow was dealt by the scrutiny. Immediately, the international community greeted Lula’s victory at the polls. The military did not accompany the extreme right. On Monday, the great chambers of businessmen recognized the victory of the PT.
Related news
In this context, they developed roadblocks. Bolsonaro’s silence was considered in fact a call to action. Radical groups spoke on Telegram of a “civilian resistance“, pending a request from the president himself to the Armed Forces to take action on the matter.
The police intervened on Tuesday to break up hundreds of protests. “Right now we have 267 active blockade points” and other demonstrations along the highways, reported Marco Antônio Territo de Barros, executive director of the Federal Highway Police (PRF). According to this high-ranking police officer, more than 300 demonstrations have ended.