Jair Bolsonaro continued his double talk on Wednesday, November 2, the day after his first speech since the election he lost against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, says Lula. The outgoing Brazilian president asked his supporters to unblock the roads while endorsing the “legitimate demonstrations”at the end of a day when his supporters, massed in front of places of command, demanded an intervention of the army.
“I appeal to you: unblock the roads. This does not seem to me to be part of the legitimate demonstrations ”said the far-right leader, in a video posted on social networks, in reference to the roadblocks maintained in more than half of the States, even if there were fewer of them than the day before.
“Other demonstrations that are held throughout Brazil, in other places, are part of the democratic game, they are welcome”he added.
Wednesday was marred by a violent episode: on a roadblock near Mirassol, in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast), a motorist hit demonstrators, injuring at least seven according to the CNN channel. Some bolsonarists proved to be threatening towards journalists, including a team from Agence France-Presse, in particular in Sao Paulo, where the number of demonstrators had started to drop at the end of the afternoon.
Mr. Bolsonaro had broken a heavy two-day silence on Tuesday to say that he “would respect” the Constitution and gave the green light to the transition with his left-wing successor Lula. But he also delivered a message received as encouragement by his supporters: “Peaceful protests will always be welcome. » According to him, they are “the fruit of outrage and a sense of injustice regarding the way the electoral process was conducted”a phrase taken up on Wednesday by his deputy son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, in an Instagram post that showed an aerial view of the demonstration in Rio de Janeiro.
Nazi salutes
In Sao Paulo, thousands of Bolsonarians demonstrated in front of the military command of the south-east, demanding an intervention of the army with cries of “intervention federal right away”, noted a journalist from AFP-TV. A similar demonstration outside the army headquarters in Brasilia also brought together thousands of protesters, according to an AFP photographer, some chanting “civil resistance”.
Same scenario in Rio de Janeiro, where thousands of demonstrators sang in front of the military command: “Lula, thief, your place is in prison”according to an AFP-TV journalist. “We demand (…) a military intervention so that our country does not become communist”Rodrigo da Mata, a 41-year-old salesman, told AFP-TV in Sao Paulo. “We do not recognize the result of the election because we know it was fraudulent. Like everything the PT does”, he adds about Lula’s Workers’ Party. Nazi salutes were filmed during protests in the southern state of Santa Catarina.
According to the UOL news site, demonstrations in favor of an intervention of the army took place on Wednesday in front of military buildings in 11 states (out of 27) of the country. “It’s no use crying, we lost the game”had nevertheless declared to the daily The globe, Vice-President Hamilton Mourao, who has often displayed his spirit of independence from the Head of State.
Supply difficulties
The number of roadblocks fell by almost half on Wednesday: the Federal Highway Police (PRF) announced that it had recorded some 146 roadblocks, against 271 the day before, in 16 states in Brazil, according to a report published Wednesday afternoon. Some 688 such protests were dispersed, she said.
Their numbers dropped drastically when the police began to use force with the approval of the Supreme Court, which urged them to use “all necessary means” to unblock the roads.
In Sao Paulo, the police had to use tear gas and water cannons to restore traffic on the Castello Branco road, the main road linking the economic lung of Brazil to the center-west of the country, a major place of agribusiness.
The dams have caused supply difficulties in Brazil, which relies almost exclusively on road transport for the transport of goods and food products. The National Confederation of Industries warned on Tuesday of the “risk of shortages and lack of fuel” if the roadblocks were not quickly lifted. The G1 information site for its part estimated that 70% of supermarkets were already seeing supply shortages of certain products.