Ex-president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, says he’s been unfairly targeted by politics since leaving office a year ago.
He said to a lot of people in São Paulo that the claims of a coup against him were not true.
He also asked for forgiveness for many of his followers who were found guilty of attacking public buildings.
The police are checking if Mr Bolsonaro encouraged a failed attempt to take over the government after he lost the 2022 election.
Speaking at a rally in Brazil’s biggest city on Sunday, the 68-year-old ex-president said the accusations against him are just a way to attack him politically.
He said we should forget about the past and let Brazil move forward.
He also talked about the next election for president in 2026.
Mr Bolsonaro cannot run for office for eight years because he said the last election in Brazil was not fair, even though there is no proof of this.
A lot of people wearing yellow and green colors, like the Brazilian flag, came together to listen to Mr. I talked to some people who are here to show that they want to be free, especially to speak their minds.
They are upset because they think Mr. Bolsonaro could go to jail for expressing his opinion.
Many people who support him at the event said that the last election was not fair, but there is no proof of this. He told them not to bring posters that say bad things or criticize institutions like the Supreme Court.
Alexandre França, a 53-year-old boss of a business, told the BBC that a lot of people came to the rally because “we need to say what we want for our country. ”
“Today, everyone is scared of being controlled or silenced. ” I believe we’re here to make an appearance. He said he wants freedom for everyone in Brazil.
Rogério Morgado, a 55-year-old soldier, was also interviewed by the BBC as a participant in the rally. He said that Brazilian politicians are scared of people protesting in the streets, it’s the only thing that they are afraid of.
The authorities are keeping a close eye on Mr. Bolsonaro’s speech to see if he says anything that could make people start riots or damage the electoral system.
Earlier this month, the ex-president had to give up his passport because he is being investigated for trying to change the results of the October 2022 election and convincing military leaders to join a coup.
After he didn’t win the vote against the left-winger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, many of his supporters broke into government buildings in the capital BrasÃlia. They stole things and damaged the buildings.
Three people who support Mr. Bolsonaro have been taken by the police, and the leader of his political party has also been taken into custody.
The police say they are spreading doubts about the voting system, which his supporters are using as a reason to come together.
The police believe that this created a situation where a coup could happen. When the armed forces didn’t help, his angry supporters attacked Congress, the Supreme Court building, and the presidential palace on 8 January last year.
Mr Bolsonaro was in the United States when the attack on Congress happened. He came back to Brazil in March 2023 and said he wasn’t scared of anything.
He is still the most important leader for the conservative side in Brazilian politics.Ex-president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, says he’s been unfairly targeted by politics since leaving his job a year ago.
He said to a lot of people in São Paulo that the claims of a coup against him were not true.
He also asked for forgiveness for many of his followers who were found guilty of attacking public buildings.
The police are checking if Mr Bolsonaro encouraged a failed attempt to take over the government after he lost the 2022 election.
Speaking at a rally in Brazil’s biggest city on Sunday, the 68-year-old ex-president said the accusations against him are just a way to attack him politically.
He said we should forget about the past and let Brazil move forward.
He also talked about the next election for president in 2026.
Mr Bolsonaro cannot run for office for eight years because he said the last election in Brazil was not fair, even though there is no proof of this.
A lot of people wearing yellow and green colors, like the Brazilian flag, came together to listen to Mr. I talked to some people who are here to show that they want to be free, especially to speak their minds.
They are upset because they think Mr. Bolsonaro could go to jail for expressing his opinion.
Many people who support him at the event said that the last election was not fair, but there is no proof of this. He told them not to bring posters that say bad things or criticize institutions like the Supreme Court.
Alexandre França, a 53-year-old boss of a business, told the BBC that a lot of people came to the rally because “we need to say what we want for our country. ”
“Today, everyone is scared of being controlled or silenced. ” I believe we’re here to make an appearance. He said he wants freedom for everyone in Brazil.
Rogério Morgado, a 55-year-old soldier, was also interviewed by the media as a participant in the rally. He said that Brazilian politicians are scared of people protesting in the streets, it’s the only thing that they are afraid of.
The authorities are keeping a close eye on Mr. Bolsonaro’s speech to see if he says anything that could make people start riots or damage the electoral system.
Earlier this month, the ex-president had to give up his passport because he is being investigated for trying to change the results of the October 2022 election and convincing military leaders to join a coup.
After he didn’t win the vote against the left-winger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, many of his supporters broke into government buildings in the capital BrasÃlia. They stole things and damaged the buildings.
Three people who support Mr. Bolsonaro have been taken by the police, and the leader of his political party has also been taken into custody.
The police say they are spreading doubts about the voting system, which his supporters are using as a reason to come together.
The police believe that this created a situation where a coup could happen. When the armed forces didn’t help, his angry supporters attacked Congress, the Supreme Court building, and the presidential palace on 8 January last year.
Mr Bolsonaro was in the United States when the attack on Congress happened. He came back to Brazil in March 2023 and said he wasn’t scared of anything.
He is still the most important leader for the conservative side in Brazilian politics.
Tag: Jair Bolsonaro
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Former Brazil president refutes claims of coup
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Jair Bolsonaro banned for contesting Brazilian presidential election for 8 years
Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court has delivered a 5-2 vote, barring former president Jair Bolsonaro from running for office for eight years.
The decision comes after Mr. Bolsonaro was found guilty of abusing his power during the previous presidential election campaign.
The accusations against Bolsonaro centered on his undermining of Brazilian democracy by making false claims about the vulnerability of electronic ballots to hacking and fraud. His lawyers are expected to appeal the verdict, arguing that his statements did not influence the election outcome.
The ban on Bolsonaro‘s candidacy is retroactive to October 2, 2022, the date of the presidential election. If the verdict stands, he will be ineligible to participate in the next presidential election in 2026.
However, he will have the opportunity to run again in 2030. Additionally, he will be barred from participating in the municipal elections scheduled for 2024 and 2028.
In response to the decision, Bolsonaro criticized it as a “stab in the back” and pledged to continue advancing right-wing politics in Brazil.
The case against Bolsonaro revolved around a speech he delivered while still serving as president in 2022. During this speech, he hosted foreign diplomats at his residence in Brasilia and falsely claimed that the electronic voting machines used in Brazil were susceptible to hacking and widespread fraud.
Mr Bolsonaro maintained that he “simply explained how elections work in Brazil” and did not criticise or attack the electoral system.
But the speech came amid a polarising presidential campaign which saw Mr Bolsonaro being challenged for the top job by his arch-rival, left-winger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The bitterly fought election went into a run-off on 30 October and was won by an extremely narrow margin by Lula.
Mr Bolsonaro never publicly acknowledged his defeat and left Brazil for Florida two days before Lula was sworn in as president.
His supporters, who refused to accept the outcome of the election, stormed Brazil’s Congress, the presidential palace and the building housing the Supreme Court on 8 January.
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Jair Bolsonaro accused of attending election scheme meeting ahead of elections
A Brazilian senator says, Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s former president, allegedly attended a meeting about a plan to keep him in power.
Marcos do Val asserts that he was asked to get the head of the electoral authority to compromise himself in order to call into question the validity of the presidential election.
Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters falsely accused voting fraud after his close loss in the election in October.
Despite the fact that his son has acknowledged the meeting actually occurred, he denies any wrongdoing.
Mr do Val told a news conference on Thursday that he was invited to a meeting on December 9 with Mr Bolsonaro by Daniel Silveira, a former lawmaker and a close ally of the former president. This was more than a month after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had won the election and three days before his presidency was formally approved.
Mr Silveira then allegedly asked Mr Do Val to get the head of the electoral authority, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, to make compromising comments on tape that would lead to his arrest.
“I immediately said that I would not do that, I would not do that type of thing,” said Mr do Val, who claimed that Mr Bolsonaro “sat in silence” while Mr Silveira laid out the details of the plot during the meeting.
However, he has denied suggestions that he was coerced by the former president, telling journalists he “was in a position similar to mine, listening to an odd idea by Daniel Silveira”.
Image caption,Marcos do Val denied that Mr Bolsonaro himself tried to force him to get involved in the plot Mr do Val’s comments come after Mr Silveira was arrested on Thursday in relation to previous offences after his parliamentary immunity came to an end.
According to Reuters, Mr de Moraes has ordered Mr do Val to provide sworn testimony to federal police within five days as part of a Supreme Court investigation into the 8 January riots, in which Mr Bolsonaro has been named among those potentially responsible.
Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the country’s Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace in the capital, Brasília, after camping in and around the city for weeks calling for a military coup.
Mr Bolsonaro has voiced “regret” for the unrest, but denies he caused it. Neither he nor his representatives have yet commented on Mr do Val’s remarks.
The former president is currently in Florida after leaving Brazil at the end of December, before his successor was sworn in. His lawyers have told the BBC he has applied for a 6-month US tourist visa.
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Brazil court to investigate Jair Bolsonaro role in anti-Lula riots
Prosecutors will look into Jair Bolsonaro’s possible “instigation and intellectual authorship of the anti-democratic acts’ that ‘resulted’ in the riots.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has agreed to open an investigation into former President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly encouraging anti-democratic protests that ended in the storming of government buildings by his supporters in the capital Brasilia.
Prosecutors will investigate Bolsonaro, who is in the United States, for possible “instigation and intellectual authorship of the anti-democratic acts that resulted in vandalism and violence in Brasilia last Sunday,” the top public prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Friday.
“Public figures who continue to cowardly conspire against democracy trying to establish a state of exception will be held accountable,” said Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who agreed on Friday to the request by federal prosecutors to launch the probe.
The Supreme Court had already ordered the arrest of Bolsonaro’s former justice minister, Anderson Torres, for allowing the protests to take place in the Brazilian capital after he assumed responsibility for Brasilia’s public security.
The federal district’s former governor and former military police chief are also targets of the Supreme Court investigation made public on Friday.
Both were removed from their positions when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters vandalised the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace last weekend, seeking to provoke chaos and a military coup that would remove President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power.
Having lost Brazil’s October election to Lula, Bolsonaro left Brazil for the US on the eve of the end of his term, avoiding passing the presidential sash to his leftist rival at his inauguration.
Torres, who like Bolsonaro is in Florida, has said he plans to return to Brazil to turn himself in. Bolsonaro said on social media he will move forward his return to Brazil.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino told a news conference he would wait until next week to re-evaluate Torres’s case, indicating a possible request for his extradition if the former minister does not turn himself in.
The arrest warrant against Torres was issued by de Moraes, who also removed Brasilia’s security chief from his post just hours after the rampage.
On Thursday, police found a draft decree in Torres’s house that appeared to be a proposal to interfere in the result of the election. Torres claimed the document was among others in a stack that was being thrown out. He said they were “leaked” to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper in his absence to create a “false narrative”.
Dino said he has made no requests to the US regarding Bolsonaro.
The political party to which Bolsonaro belongs, the right-wing Liberal Party (PL), decided to beef up its team of lawyers in preparation for the defence of the former president, a party official told Reuters.
Also on Friday night, the popular social media accounts of several prominent right-wing figures were suspended in Brazil in response to a court order, which US journalist Glenn Greenwald obtained and detailed on a live social media broadcast.
The order, also issued by Justice de Moraes, was directed at six social media platforms and established a two-hour deadline to block the accounts or face fines.
The accounts belong to a digital influencer, a YouTuber recently elected federal legislator, a podcast host in the style of Joe Rogan and an evangelical pastor, among others.
Bolsonaro now faces several investigations for anti-democratic statements he made as president, including repeated claims the election system was open to fraud.
PL party leaders fear he will be held responsible for Sunday’s storming of government buildings. While they do not think he will face arrest, they fear he could be declared ineligible to run in the 2026 election, the party official said.
Source: Aljazeera.com -
Riots in Brazil: Arrests of top officials ordered after the capital was stormed
Rioters stormed key government buildings in Brasilia, prompting Brazilian judicial authorities to order the arrest of top public officials.
Local media has reported that, one official, the former commander of the military police, has been arrested.
According to the solicitor general’s office, the officials also include Brasilia’s former public security chief Anderson Torres and others “responsible for acts and omissions” that led to the riots.
Mr. Torres has denied any involvement in the riots.
Colonel Fábio Augusto, the police commander, was fired after ex-President Jair Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court.
The rioting came a week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, widely known as Lula, was sworn in.
The dramatic scenes saw thousands of protesters, some clad in yellow Brazil football shirts and waving flags, overrun police and ransack the heart of the Brazilian state.
Of the approximately 1,500 people arrested and brought to the police academy after the riot, officials say that nearly 600 have been taken to other facilities, where police officials have five days to formally charge them.
Image caption,Former Justice Minister Anderson Torres Earlier on Tuesday, the federal intervenor in public security accused Mr Torres of “a structured sabotage operation”.
Ricardo Cappelli, who has been appointed to run security in Brasília, said there was a “lack of command” from Mr Torres before government buildings were stormed.
Lula’s inauguration on 1 January was “an extremely successful security operation,” Mr Cappelli told CNN.
What changed before Sunday was that, on 2 January, “Anderson Torres took over as Secretary of Security, dismissed the entire command and travelled”, he said.
“If this isn’t sabotage, I don’t know what is,” Mr Cappelli added.
Mr Torres said that he deeply regretted the “absurd hypotheses” that he played any part in the riots.
He said the scenes, which occurred during his family holiday, were lamentable and said it was “the most bitter day” of his personal and professional life.
Lula has accused security forces of “neglecting” their duty in not halting the “terrorist acts” in Brasília.
Public prosecutors asked on Tuesday for a federal audit court to freeze Mr Bolsonaro’s assets in light of the riots.
The former president, who has condemned the riots, has not admitted defeat from October’s tight election that divided the nation, and flew to the US before the handover on 1 January.
On Monday, he was admitted to hospital in Florida with abdominal pain relating to a stabbing attack during his election campaign in 2018. Reports say he left the hospital on Tuesday.
Mr Bolsonaro said on Tuesday that he intended to return to Brazil, telling CNN that he would bring forward his departure from the US, which was originally scheduled for the end of January.
A day after the riots, heavily armed officers started dismantling a camp of Mr Bolsonaro’s supporters in Brasília – one of a number that have been set up outside army barracks around the country since the presidential election.
Mr Torres, who previously served as Mr Bolsonaro’s justice minister, was fired from his role as Secretary of Public Security on Sunday by Brasília governor Ibaneis Rocha.
Mr Rocha was himself later removed from his post for 90 days by the Supreme Court.
Lula has also taken aim at the security forces, accusing them of “incompetence, bad faith or malice” for failing to stop demonstrators accessing Congress.
“You will see in the images that they [police officers] are guiding people on the walk to Praca dos Tres Powers,” he said. “We are going to find out who the financiers of these vandals who went to Brasília are and they will all pay with the force of law.”
Video shared by the Brazilian outlet O Globo showed some officers laughing and taking photos together as demonstrators occupied the congressional campus in the background.
Protesters had been gathering since the morning on the lawns in front of the parliament and up and down the kilometre of the Esplanada avenue, which is lined with government ministries and national monuments.
Despite the actions of the protesters, in the hours before the chaos, security had appeared tight, with the roads closed for about a block around the parliament area and armed police pairs guarding every entrance into the area.
The BBC had seen about 50 police officers around on Sunday morning local time and cars were turned away at entry points, while those entering on foot were frisked by police checking bags.
According to Katy Watson, the BBC’s South America correspondent, some protesters aren’t just angry that Mr Bolsonaro lost the election – they want President Lula to return to prison.
Mr Bolsonaro has gone very quiet since losing October’s elections, she said, adding that in not publicly conceding defeat, he’s allowed his most ardent supporters to remain angry over a democratic election that he legitimately lost.
The former president condemned the attack and denied responsibility for encouraging the rioters in a post on Twitter some six hours after violence broke out.
On Tuesday, his son, Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, said people should not try to link his father to the riots, stating that he has been silently “licking his wounds” since losing the election
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Brazil Congress: Lula vows to punish Bolsonaro supporters following riots
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has threatened to punish supporters of the country’s former leader, Jair Bolsonaro, who stormed Congress.
Supporters of the deposed far-right leader also surrounded the presidential palace and stormed the Supreme Court.
However, after hours of fighting, police reclaimed control of the buildings in Brasilia’s capital on Sunday evening.
Lula visited the Supreme Court building upon his arrival in the city to inspect the damage.
According to the Civil Police of Brasilia, 300 people have been arrested.
The city’s governor, Ibaneis Rocha, has been removed from his post for 90 days by the Supreme Court. Justice Alexandre de Moraes accused him of failing to prevent the riot and of being “painfully silent” in the face of the attack. Mr Rocha has apologised for Sunday’s events.
Pro-democracy rallies are being called by leftist leaders and groups across Brazil.
The dramatic scenes – which saw thousands of protesters clad in yellow Brazil football shirts and flags overrun police and ransack the heart of the Brazilian state – come just a week after Lula’s inauguration.
The veteran left-wing leader was forced to declare emergency powers before dispatching the national guard into the capital to restore order.
He also ordered the closure of the centre of the capital, including the main avenue where governmental buildings are – for 24 hours.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino said some 40 buses that had been used to transport protesters to the capital had been seized, and he called the invasion an “absurd attempt to impose [the protesters’] will by force.”
Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly refused to accept that he lost October’s election and last week left the country instead of taking part in inaugural ceremonies, which would have seen him hand over the iconic presidential sash.
The 67-year-old – who is believed to be in Florida – condemned the attack and denied responsibility for encouraging the rioters in a post on Twitter some six hours after violence broke out.
Speaking before he arrived in Brasilia, Lula said there was “no precedent in the history of our country” for the scenes in Brasilia and called the violence the “acts of vandals and fascists”.
And he took aim at security forces whom he accused of “incompetence, bad faith or malice” for failing to stop demonstrators accessing Congress.
“You will see in the images that they [police officers] are guiding people on the walk to Praca dos Tres Powers,” he said. “We are going to find out who the financiers of these vandals who went to Brasilia are and they will all pay with the force of law.”
Video shared by the Brazilian outlet O Globo showed some officers laughing and taking photos together as demonstrators occupied the congressional campus in the background.
Brazilian President Lula says Congress invaders will be punished
Some protesters smashed windows, while others reached the Senate chamber, where they jumped on to seats and used benches as slides.
Videos on social media show protesters pulling a police officer from his horse and attacking him outside the building.
Footage broadcast by national media show police detaining dozens of protesters in their yellow jerseys outside the presidential palace.
Other suspects – whose hands were bound behind their backs – are also seen being led out of the building.
Protesters had been gathering since the morning on the lawns in front of the parliament and up and down the kilometre of the Esplanada avenue, which is lined with government ministries and national monuments.
Despite the actions of the protesters, in the hours before the chaos, security had appeared tight, with the roads closed for about a block around the parliament area and armed police pairs guarding every entrance into the area.
The BBC had seen about 50 police officers around on Sunday morning local time and cars were turned away at entry points, while those entering on foot were frisked by police checking bags.
Image caption,Vandals inside a room in the presidential palace Demonstrators were quick to defend their actions when approached by reporters.
Lima, a 27-year-old production engineer, said: “We need to re-establish order after this fraudulent election.”
“I’m here for history, for my daughters,” she told AFP news agency.
Others in the capital expressed outrage at the violence and said the attack marked a sad day for the country.
“I voted for Bolsanaro but I don’t agree with what they’re doing,” Daniel Lacerda, 21, told the BBC. “If you don’t agree with the president you should just say it and move on, you shouldn’t go hold protests and commit all the violence like they’re doing.”
And many are drawing comparisons with the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump, an ally of Mr Bolsonaro.
Image caption,Bolsonaro supporters vandalising the interior of the presidential palace Bolsonaro supporters created camps in cities across Brazil, some of them outside the military barracks. That is because his most ardent supporters want the military to intervene and make good elections that they say were stolen.
It looked like their movement had been curbed by Lula’s inauguration – the camps in Brasilia had been dismantled and there was no disruption on the day he was sworn in.
But Sunday’s scenes show that those predictions were premature.
According to Katy Watson, the BBC’s South America correspondent, some protesters aren’t just angry that Jair Bolsonaro lost the election – they want President Lula to return to prison. He spent 18 months in jail after being found guilty of corruption in 2017 and his convictions were later annulled, initially he had been sentenced to more than nine years.
Image caption,Police used tear gas in an attempt to repel protesters Leaders from Latin America have condemned the violence:
- Chilean President Gabriel Boric said Brazil had his country’s “full support in the face of this cowardly and vile attack on democracy”.
- Colombian President Gustavo Petro said “fascism [had] decided to stage a coup”.
- Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico expressed “full support for President Lula’s administration, elected by popular will”.
US President Joe Biden tweeted: “I condemn the assault on democracy and the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social media that “the violent attacks on democratic institutions are an attack on democracy that cannot be tolerated,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said the “will of the Brazilian people and the democratic institutions must be respected”. Both have pledged their support to Lula.
“I condemn any attempt to undermine the peaceful transfer of power and the democratic will of the people of Brazil,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
. “President Lula and his government have the United Kingdom’s full support, and I look forward to building on our countries’ close ties in the years ahead.”
Source: BBC.com -
Brazil court rejects Bolsonaro party complaint over vote
Brazil‘s electoral court has rejected a challenge against the presidential election result made by the far-right party of President Jair Bolsonaro.
He narrowly lost to the leftist former leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and his Liberal Party (PL) claimed without evidence that voting machines were compromised.
The court said the complaint was made “in bad faith” and fined the party 22.9m reais (£3.5m; $4.3m).
Lula takes office on 1 January.
Superior Electoral Court (TSE) President Alexandre de Moraes said the PL complaint was “offensive to democratic norms” and had sought to “encourage criminal and anti-democratic movements”.
Lula’s victory – with 50.9% to Mr Bolsonaro’s 49.1% – has been ratified by the TSE.
Mr Bolsonaro has previously claimed that Brazil’s electronic voting system is not fraud-proof.
He has still not conceded defeat, but has given the go-ahead for a presidential transition. He stepped away from the public gaze after losing the election on 30 October.
Immediately after Lula’s win was declared, many lorry drivers supporting Mr Bolsonaro erected roadblocks and there were scuffles with police. But Mr Bolsonaro later told them that blocking roads was not a part of “legitimate” protests.
Some of his followers have continued demonstrating outside military barracks, urging a military intervention to prevent Lula taking office.
Lula, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2010, is now 77 and will become the oldest person to assume the post.
His victory was a stunning comeback for a politician who could not run in the last presidential election in 2018 because he was in jail and barred from public office. But his conviction for corruption was later annulled.
Mr Bolsonaro, a former army captain, drew much support from evangelical Christians and other conservatives anxious to protect family values. But his tenure also saw accelerated deforestation of the Amazon and growing inequality.
Source: BBC.com
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Bolsonaro breaks his silence without publicly admitting defeat
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right president, has broken his silence since losing the presidential election on Sunday.
He expressed gratitude to those who voted for him but refused to admit defeat.
But, contrary to popular belief, he did not challenge the outcome.
Ciro Nogueira, his chief of staff, spoke after Mr Bolsonaro’s brief statement, saying that the “transition of power” would begin.
Even though Mr Bolsonaro did not himself acknowledge defeat in his own words, Brazil’s Supreme Court released a statement shortly after his speech saying that by authorising the transition of power, he had recognised the result of the election.
Combative statements from the president in the past – such as that “only God” could remove him from office – meant that there had been a tense wait for him to appear in public.
Before the election, he had also repeatedly cast unfounded doubts about the voting system.
When he finally appeared in public, 44 hours after the election result was announced, Mr Bolsonaro’s statement lasted only two minutes and he did not take any questions from the assembled reporters.
In the message aimed at his supporters, Mr Bolsonaro said that “our dreams continue as alive as ever”.
He repeated the values he says he and his party stand for – “God, fatherland, family, and freedom” – and insisted that he would continue to strive for “order and progress”, the words emblazoned on Brazil’s flag.
He did not mention Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his arch-rival who narrowly beat him on Sunday, at all. In a break with tradition, Mr Bolsonaro has still not called the man who defeated him in the election.
Hardcore supporters of Mr Bolsonaro – who refuse to accept that he lost – have erected hundreds of roadblocks in all but two states of Brazil.
In his speech, Mr Bolsonaro referred to them as “current popular movements” and said they were “the fruit of indignation and a sense of injustice of how the electoral process unfolded”.He added that “peaceful demonstrations” would always be welcome, but that “our methods can’t be the same as those used by the left, which always harmed the population, such as invasion of lands, disrespecting property and impeding the right to come and go”.
IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS Image caption, Kneeling protesters disrupted the access to the airport in São Paulo The top electoral judge, Alexandre de Moraes, had said earlier on Tuesday that the roadblocks posed “a risk to national security” and ordered that they be cleared.
But police have struggled to remove all of them, with more than 250 still in place.
The blockages are causing considerable disruption and affecting food supply chains.
They started shortly after Brazil’s electoral authorities announced a narrow win for Lula in the run-off of the presidential election. With all the votes counted, Lula had 50.9% of the valid votes against Mr Bolsonaro’s 49.1%.
Congratulations immediately started pouring in for Lula from across the world, with US President Biden saying the win came “following free, fair, and credible elections”.
Mr Bolsonaro, who is normally a keen user of social media, stayed silent and out of the public eye. But he started to look more and more isolated as even his close allies congratulated Lula.
The powerful speaker of the lower house of Congress, Arthur Lira, sent a strong message when he said that “the will of the majority, as it is expressed in the polls, can never be contested”.
But some supporters of Bolsonaro appeared emboldened by his silence.
“We will not accept losing what we have gained, we want what is written on our flag, ‘order and progress,” one protester in Rio de Janeiro told AFP news agency. “We will not accept the situation as it is,” the man added.
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Lula da Silva narrowly defeats Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential election
Mr da Silva, a veteran leftist, received 50.8% of the vote, while Mr Bolsonaro, the far-right incumbent, received 49.2%.
Official results show that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian election.
Brazil’s election has been the most divisive in recent memory, pitting far-right incumbent President Bolsonaro against leftist former President Lula da Silva.
On his victory, Mr da Silva tweeted a simple picture of his hand over the Brazilian flag and the word: “Democracy.”
It is a stunning return to power for Mr da Silva, 77, whose 2018 imprisonment over a corruption scandal sidelined him from that year’s election, paving the way for then-candidate Mr Bolsonaro’s win and four years of far-right politics.
Mr da Silva’s convictions were annulled, but he faced an uphill battle when he decided to re-run for president, with many millions of Brazilians continuing to believe he was corrupt.
After his victory was announced, he said: “They tried to bury me alive, and I’m here!”
And in his first speech to the nation as president-elect, he vowed his most urgent commitment would be to “end hunger” in Brazil.
His victory marks the first time since Brazil’s 1985 return to democracy that the sitting president has failed to win reelection.
‘Time of hope and future’
Colombian president Gustavo Petro wrote: “Viva Lula,” while Argentina’s leader Alberto Fernandez said the victory ushered in a new era “for the history of Latin America”.
He added: “A time of hope and future begins today.”
Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court’s count showed it was a close contest – Mr da Silva polled 50.9% of votes compared with 49.1% for Mr Bolsonaro, with all of the voting machines counted.
The election, in the world’s fourth-largest democracy, served as a referendum on two starkly different – and vehemently opposed – visions for Brazil’s future.
Mr Bolsonaro vowed to consolidate a sharp rightward turn in Brazilian politics after a presidency that witnessed one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks of COVID-19 and widespread deforestation in the Amazon basin.
Image:Jair Bolsonaro Mr da Silva promised more social and environmental responsibility, evoking the rising prosperity of his 2003-2010 presidency before corruption scandals tarnished his Workers’ Party.
More than 120 million Brazilians were expected to cast ballots, with the vote conducted electronically.
There are also fears Mr Bolsonaro could challenge the election results should he lose – much like former US President Donald Trump.
For months, he claimed the nation’s electronic voting machines are prone to fraud, though he never presented evidence.
As Mr da Silva prepared to give a speech at a hotel in São Paulo on Sunday evening, Mr Bolsonaro had yet to concede the election.
It was the country’s closest poll in more than three decades. Just over two million votes separated the two candidates, with 99.5% of the vote counted. The previous closest race, in 2014, was decided by a margin of 3.46 million votes.
The new president, known universally as Lula, will be sworn in on 1 January 2023.
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Brazilian politician throws grenades towards police in Rio de Janeiro state
A Brazilian politician has been arrested after he threw grenades at police officers who arrived at his home in the state of Rio de Janeiro to arrest him.
Before surrendering on Sunday, Roberto Jefferson, an ally of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, wounded two officers.
Previously, a Supreme Court judge ordered his incarceration for disrespecting Chief Justice Cármen Luca. He had already been placed under house arrest for threatening her.
Mr Bolsonaro reacted by saying those who fired at police should be arrested.
The two officers were wounded by shrapnel from a grenade during the attack in Comendador Levy Gasparian, north of the state capital Rio de Janeiro. They were taken to the hospital and later discharged.
Mr Jefferson, the 69-year-old former leader of the PTB political party, also fired a number of shots from a rifle, shattering the windshield of a police car.
Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes had ordered the politician to be detained on the grounds that he violated the conditions of house arrest.
Political tensions are high in Brazil ahead of Sunday’s presidential election run-off between Mr Bolsonaro and left-winger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula – who is still seen as the front-runner – fell short of the 50% of valid votes needed to prevent a run-off in the first round earlier this month.
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Brazil election: He is God so we will vote for him
In the first of two profiles of the front-runners for the position of president of Brazil, Katy Watson questions if incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is, as his supporters claim, a wonderful leader or someone who despises democracy.
Wherever Jair Bolsonaro goes, he likes to stir controversy – but few were expecting him to do so on the eve of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. As world leaders flew to the UK to mark her passing, President Bolsonaro saw an opportunity to do some campaigning.
While British mourners accused him and his fans of lacking respect in a period of mourning, he was undeterred.
“We’re on the right path,” he told his supporters from the balcony of the Brazilian residence, saying Brazil did not want to discuss the legalisation of abortion or drugs, with cheers from the crowd in response. And he repeated his often-cited slogan: “God, homeland, family and freedom”.
Another familiar mantra at his campaign events is the chant: “Mito, mito, mito.”
He is, to his fans, a “myth” – a legendary leader – and they are convinced their man will be re-elected in October.
Despite polls showing his main rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the lead, nothing will deter Mr Bolsonaro’s greatest supporters from believing the president, who has himself denounced the polls as a lie, is the only man to lead the country.
Pastor Laura Almeida, at the Mustard Seed Ministry in the northeastern city of Recife, is one of his most committed fans. Standing in front of her Sunday congregation, she sings his praises.
“We’ll vote for Bolsonaro because he is God,” she tells her members. “He defends the same principles as us in accordance with the word of God.”
Image caption, Pastor Laura Almeida says she believes that President Bolsonaro is the saviour who will ease the people’s suffering After the service, she explains her thinking to me.
“Whenever people are suffering, when they believe in an all-powerful creator, I think God raises up a saviour,” she says.
I ask her if that saviour is President Bolsonaro. “Yes,” she replies. “Today in Brazil, I think that’s him.”
Mr Bolsonaro sings from the same song sheet as many evangelicals. He preaches the importance of family, he is vehemently against abortion and he is known for his homophobic comments.
And it was congregations like Laura’s that got him elected in 2018.
“Evangelicals are growing in Brazil,” says Prof Vinicius do Valle, Director of the Evangelical Observatory information service in Brazil. “They are now about 30% of the population – only two decades ago, it was about 15% so they are increasing very quickly and it’s changing the way we do politics here.”
But it is not the same way that the church has traditionally been involved.
“The Catholic Church played a democratic role in the past decades,” says the professor, referring to the Church speaking out during the military dictatorship. “But that hasn’t happened when it comes to evangelical churches. They are playing a role in Bolsonaro’s election and against democratic institutions in Brazil – we see ministers calling people to go to protests against democratic institutions.”
Mr Bolsonaro does not separate politics from prayer. His campaign language is littered with religious references. Even lifting himself up to a godly status.
He hit this year’s campaign trail in Juiz de Fora, the city where he was stabbed in 2018 – the place where, in his own words, he was “born again”.
Image caption, Gilson Machado describes the president as an “old uncle” But in the north-east of Brazil, he has a tough job on his hands to convince voters he is the man for them. This is not Mr Bolsonaro’s natural stomping ground. In fact, it was the only region where he lost in 2018.
The poorest region in the country, it is where Lula was born and with which he has been associated for all of his political careers. For that reason, it has become the ultimate challenge for President Bolsonaro to gain ground here.
Gilson Machado is an affable local politician. A former tourism minister under Mr Bolsonaro, he is perhaps most well-known – or infamous – for his love of playing the accordion. Now, he is running for senate in Pernambuco, but he is also head of Mr Bolsonaro’s national campaign in the north-east and is a great friend of the president.
“He’s an old uncle and he likes football, he doesn’t drink, he loves his family, he’s a Christian and he’s a hard, hard worker,” he says. “He’s the man for the world – the biggest right-wing president of the world right now.”
That feeling is shared by nuclear medicine doctor Mitchell Lewis. Although it is not shared by his medical school friends Geraldo Aguiar and Kalina Sá, who are sitting with him at his dining table, enjoying a glass of wine.
In such a polarised political contest, it is surprising the three remain friends. So many relationships have fallen foul of politics in Brazil these past few years.
“What makes you a Bolsonarista [a Bolsonaro supporter] is when he speaks directly to your heart, to your soul,” he says. “Bolsonaro freed this voice from all these people you see in the streets screaming ‘Mito!’.”
Geraldo says he is going to vote for Lula. Mitchell shakes his head.
“Bolsonaro lost a great opportunity to be seen as responsible and confront this pandemic in an intelligent way,” Geraldo says, criticising how he behaved during the pandemic. “I don’t think he has the emotional intelligence for this.”
Kalina though, is on the fence after having voted for Bolsonaro in 2018.
“I am totally against [Lula’s] Workers’ Party, but I don’t think Bolsonaro was a good leader,” she says. “He has not listened, and with that, he lost my vote. Those who support Bolsonaro do so no matter what, independently of what he does.”
Ultimate commitment or blind adoration? Mitchell has the last word.
“I’m not a religious person, I am an atheist, but when Bolsonaro says that he has a mission from God, I start questioning my lack of belief.”