Bolsonaro will not accept the outcome of the elections in Brazil if he is defeated and is seeking to mobilise his supporters now to try to repeat in Brazil a violent movement of fanatics and lumpens, inspired by the invasion of the Capitol in Washington by supporters of the then US president on 6 January 2021.
José R. Oro
It was already seen during the celebration of the bicentenary of Independence. The presentation of Bolsonaro’s candidacy for re-election was marked by vituperation against the Supreme and Superior Electoral Courts, against the PT (Workers’ Party) and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and by a call for demonstrations on 7 September (Brazil’s Independence Day), in a probable repetition of the coup-like or at least violent acts that occurred in Washington last year.
Bolsonaro will not hand over power calmly and respectfully after a very likely electoral defeat. Moreover, he may end up in jail for the many arbitrary acts he has committed during his term in office.
At the Alvorada Palace (the official residence in Brasilia), before some 40 foreign diplomats, the ex-military officer repeated on 18 July unfounded and already disproved suspicions about the supposedly “hackable” electronic ballot boxes and their influence on the election process, “curing himself of his own health” in the face of his certain defeat.
The right-wing media group Folha warns that “as a result of the political situation and the republican disorder provoked by Bolsonaro, the comfort of not being properly investigated should change in the event of an eventual electoral defeat” in October. In other words, if he loses the elections, he will pay for his lies.
For its part, the daily O Globo denounces the risk of a military coup by the Bolsonaristas (supporters of the former army captain).
The agenda of the head of state is even clearer than after the lies about the electronic ballot boxes told to the diplomatic corps accredited in Brasilia.
Bolsonaro’s coup “is an acute threat to democracy, which needs to be confronted with energy and determination”, remarks the newspaper, traditionally a defender of the oligarchy’s candidates.
One of the main problems Bolsonaro faces in his Trumpian attempt to retain power at any cost is that he has lost the support of critical elements of the Brazilian oligarchy and establishment, such as the O Globo network, the Folha group and others like it.
It is not only that Bolsonaro has lost all self-control, all credibility and respect even in historically right-wing sectors. It is also that he smells dead, and the “rogue media” do not want to be burdened with political corpses.
He already demonstrated this in the first TV debate on 28 August, where he gave a tremendous example of his lack of personal control, calling Lula an “ex-convict and corrupt” and insulting the journalists present by showing exasperation and impotence in each of his interventions.
However, there is an important difference between the political tantrums of Trump and Bolsonaro, and that is that the latter has an influence in the Armed Forces that his American idol does not even dare to dream of. And this must be taken into account and we must be very alert to the danger of a military coup. PL
(Translated by Cristina Popa – Email: gcpopa83@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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