Bolsonaro shows his political muscle in a massive march in Brazil against Lula's government
The former president was applauded in São Paulo and even showed up with an Israeli flag to differentiate himself from the current president's statements about the war in Gaza.
This Sunday, Jair Bolsonaro led a massive march against Lula da Silva's government in Brazil. The former president spoke before his followers to protest against the political "persecution" of the new administration and denied accusations that mentioned him as part of a "coup d'état" plot before handing over power in 2023.
The Brazilian federal police recently imprisoned the president of the Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, as well as three important advisors to the former president, Marcelo Costa Câmara, Major Rafael Martins de Oliveira and Filipe Martins. The case is led by Alexandre de Moraes, one of the current president's greatest judicial allies.
Bolsonaro was disqualified from pursuing public office for eight years, and his passport was taken away so he could not leave the country. Thus, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians gathered in the streets of São Paulo to show their support for the former president and make clear their discontent with Lula's third term.
As for the important attendees, the governor of the State of São Paulo and former Bolsonaro minister, Tarcisio de Freitas, and the mayor of the city, Ricardo Nunes, stood out.
"We cannot accept that a power eliminates whoever it may be from the political scene, unless it is for a fair reason. We cannot think about elections by removing opponents," said the former president at the march.
Bolsonaro also took the opportunity to distance himself from the accusations that placed him as part of a plan to take over the government by force. "What is a coup? They are tanks in the street, they are weapons, they are conspiracy... None of that happened in Brazil," he added. He then asked legislators to approve an amnesty for those convicted of what happened on January 8, 2023, when protesters invaded the headquarters of the Presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court in Brasilia.
"We want amnesty for the poor who are imprisoned in Brasilia. In the past, we granted amnesty to those who committed atrocities, now we ask deputies and senators for an amnesty project so that justice is done in Brazil," Bolsonaro continued, alleging that many of those convicted received excessive punishment from the Brazilian judicial system.
Bolsonaro even showed up with an Israeli flag, as a response to Lula for his recent comments about Hamas. "I am in favor of the creation of a free and sovereign Palestinian state. May this Palestinian State live in harmony with the State of Israel. What the Government of the State of Israel is doing is not a war, it is a genocide. They are murdering children and women. Don't try to interpret the interview I gave. Read the interview and stop judging me, for what the Prime Minister of Israel said," the president of Brazil recently wrote on his social media.
Voz Media was in Washington, D.C., carrying out extensive coverage of CPAC, where it was able to interview Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the former president, who precisely pointed out the existence of political persecution in his country.