At the call of former president Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian right is demonstrating Saturday in Sao Paulo for “democracy” and “freedom”, in the midst of a debate on freedom of expression after the suspension of X, its favorite social network.
On this national independence day, and one month before the municipal elections, the former far-right leader wants to show that he can still carry all his weight after leaving power at the end of 2022.
“There is no point in celebrating our independence if we are deprived of freedom,” Bolsonaro said in a video in which he called for demonstrations “in yellow and green”, the colours of the Brazilian flag, from 2 p.m. (5 p.m. GMT) on Paulista Avenue, the emblematic artery of the largest megalopolis in Latin America.
The judiciary is expected to be heavily targeted in speeches, particularly Alexandre de Moraes, a powerful Supreme Court justice.
A bête noire of the Bolsonaristas, Judge Moraes was president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal when the former head of state was sentenced last year to eight years of ineligibility for his attacks without evidence against the electronic ballot box system. He also leads most of the multiple investigations targeting Mr. Bolsonaro.
And it was he who, last week, ordered the suspension of X, accusing the platform of American billionaire Elon Musk of having ignored a series of court decisions linked to the fight against disinformation.
– “Dictator in a toga” –
Saturday’s demonstration had been called even before the suspension of the old Twitter, a privileged arena for an ultra-polarized debate in Brazil.
The right, which readily makes Elon Musk its champion, denounced the measure in the name of freedom of expression.
This suspension is a “severe blow against our freedom and our legal security,” Jair Bolsonaro denounced on LinkedIn on Thursday.
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But the left of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defended this drastic choice.
“We will always be intolerant of anyone, regardless of wealth, who defies Brazilian law,” Lula warned in a speech on the eve of the national holiday, without naming the businessman.
Democracy “is not the right to lie, to spread hatred and to violate the will of the people,” he added.
Influential evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, one of the organizers of Saturday’s demonstration, is calling for “the removal of the toga-clad dictator Alexandre de Moraes” — the black “toga” being the uniform worn by Supreme Court judges.
An impeachment request is expected to be filed in the Senate on Monday by right-wing parliamentarians. This move, whose outcome is currently very uncertain, is supported by posts from Elon Musk.
– Scandal –
Saturday’s meeting comes at a time when the government is weakened by its most serious scandal. Accused of sexual harassment by several women, including another minister, Human Rights Minister Silvio Almeida, who denies everything, was dismissed on Friday evening.
In February, a pro-Bolsonaro demonstration turned into a show of force, drawing 185,000 people, according to an estimate by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo. Another in Rio in April was less successful.
“We are going to see what the true dimension of Bolsonarism is in Brazil,” Geraldo Monteiro, a political scientist at the University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), told AFP, for whom the ex-president is trying to “appropriate the symbols of patriotism” such as the Independence Day.
Mr Bolsonaro asked his supporters “not to take part in the independence commemoration ceremonies organised by the government” on Saturday.
Lula is due to attend the traditional September 7 parade in Brasilia this morning.
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