Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gathered thousands of his supporters in São Paulo on Saturday, where he once again attacked the Supreme Court judge who is investigating him and Elon Musk, amid the controversy over the suspension of the social network X.
The far-right leader also raised the spectre of electoral fraud on Avenida Paulista, which was partially occupied, although with fewer attendees, compared to the protest on February 25, which took place at a time when the judicial noose was tightening around him.
Coinciding with Brazil’s Independence Day, the former president (2019-2022) called on Congress to put a stop to Alexandre de Moraes, “that dictator who does more harm to Brazil than (President) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva himself,” he said.
Bolsonarism raises its tone against the Supreme Court
De Moraes, one of the eleven magistrates of the high court, is currently the public enemy number one of the extreme right that Bolsonaro embodies and at this Saturday’s protest he was the target of all criticism.
He has several cases in which Bolsonaro is under investigation, including one for allegedly plotting a coup against Lula and another for spreading fake news and seriously attacking democratic institutions.
Musk is also involved in the latter case. The owner of X and Tesla is suspected of “obstruction of justice”, “criminal organization” and “incitement to commit a crime”, after failing to comply with several court orders that forced him to delete profiles suspected of misinformation.
On Avenida Paulista, the face of the South African businessman appeared on several posters with slogans against the Supreme Court, and specifically against De Moraes, who was subjected to serious insults such as “criminal”, “censor” and “dictator”.
“They want to censor the truth,” exclaimed Bolsonaro, who lost his voice at the end of a turbulent speech that began by demanding that the police disconnect a sound system that was bothering him near the truck from which he led the event.
Earlier, the governor of the state of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, who has been tipped as a possible political successor to Bolsonaro, invited those present to “not let freedom die.”
“We are here to say that there should be no censorship, no blocking of social networks. We want to pacify this country,” he said in a moderate tone.
More heated was the intervention of the influential evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, who financed the demonstration and accused De Moraes of “tearing up the Constitution.”
“De Moraes must be removed from office and sent to jail,” he said.
Another demand of Bolsonaro and his allies was to ask Congress to grant amnesty to those convicted of attacking the headquarters of the three branches of government in Brasilia on January 8, 2023, in order to incite a military intervention against Lula.
«Suspending X is taking away our freedom»
The demonstration was peaceful, except for a few isolated incidents, such as the throwing of eggs from some of the apartments in the area against Bolsonarists.
The former head of state’s acolytes dressed in green and yellow, and wrapped themselves in the flags of Israel and Brazil, which were mixed with posters featuring the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei, and El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, as well as former US president Donald Trump.
Joana Popular, a 35-year-old micro-entrepreneur, traveled 2,000 kilometers from the state of Bahia, traditionally a granary of Lula’s votes, to join the Bolsonarist campaign against the judiciary.
“Suspending X is taking away our freedom. We cannot let this drag on,” said this former user of Musk’s platform, which has been blocked in Brazil since last Saturday, to EFE.
A few metres away, Renato do Nascimento describes himself as “the Joker of the right”. He is dressed up as the Batman villain.
“The Supreme Court is overstepping its powers. They are judicial activists. Musk is doing well because illegal orders are not carried out,” said the 45-year-old businessman.
Lula led the civic-military parade on Saturday to mark Independence Day in Brasilia.
He did not make any political speech today, but the day before he gave one on national television in which he stressed that his government will “always be intolerant of anyone, no matter how fortunate they are, who challenges Brazilian legislation,” in apparent reference to Musk. EFE
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