Brazilians march in ‘defence of democracy’
SAO PAULO: Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of several cities Thursday in “defence of democracy” in the face of President Jair Bolsonaro’s sustained attacks on the voting system, weeks ahead of elections.
The demonstrations were sparked by fears the far-right leader, lagging in opinion polls, would not respect the outcome of October’s vote given his repeated attempts to cast doubt on Brazil’s electoral system.
“After 200 years of independence in Brazil, we should be thinking about our future... but we are focused on preventing a regression,” University of Sao Paulo rector Carlos Gilberto Junior told a gathering of hundreds of academics, business and trade union leaders and civil society members.
Outside the campus, thousands held up banners denouncing Bolsonaro and proclaiming: “Respect the vote, respect the people.”
Some were dressed as electronic voting machines, whose exclusive use Bolsonaro has claimed makes cheating easier.
“Our president has already given indications that he will do everything possible to prevent elections,” architect Sabrina Cunha, 62, told AFP.
“I was from the student movement during the military dictatorship (1964-1985), I know what awaits us,” she added.
At the university gathering, a video was shown of Brazilian artists reading out of a petition "in defence of the democratic state of law."
The document, which was also read out at the King's College London university, has garnered more than 900,000 signatures.
“We are living a moment of great peril for democratic normality, of risk for institutions, with insinuations of noncompliance with election results,” reads the text.
Several of Bolsonaro’s election rivals have signed the petition, including leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who tweeted Thursday: “Our country used to be sovereign and respected. We need to get it back.”
Bolsonaro, for his part, tweeted that “Today, a very important act took place on behalf of Brazil and of great relevance to the Brazilian people: (state oil company) Petrobras once again reduced the price of diesel.”
Demonstrations were also held in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Recife.