Brazil: concern for Lula’s safety | Bolsonarist political violence on the rise

By Dario Pignotti

From Brasilia

The Governor of the State of Maranhão, Flavio Dino, you are concerned about the safety of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Dino is not the only one to talk about the subject, we know that the PT is also thinking of rapply measures to guarantee the physical integrity of the politician.

“Lula is careful not to be the target of an attack,” Dino, of the Brazilian Socialist Party, advised at a meeting in São Paulo, the Metropoles news site reported.

The name of Lula was chanted this Saturday by demonstrators mobilized to demand the departure of Jair Bolsonaro in hundreds of Brazilian cities.

Lula, at the top of the polls

A favorite of all polls, some of which give him as the winner of the first round of the 2022 elections, the founder of the PT has become an obsession with the president who would explicitly or implicitly incite his most extremist supporters to commit acts of political violencesaid Dino.

Since taking office, the former captain has consolidated his alliance with the provincial police and the paramilitary bands formed in their shadow. These forces would be ready to operate politically when the president orders it.

Lula was absent from the demonstrations this Saturday as well as the three previous ones. Not for security reasons, but for political reasons. He prefers to keep a low profile, for now. But some consider that it could appear in the next demonstrations.

Political violence is on the rise

In the days leading up to Saturday’s protests, two opponents were victims of violence or intimidation.

The PT adviser was arrested on Friday, Renato Freitas, in Curitiba, Elements of the municipal guard reduced and handcuffed the lawyer of African descent when he participated in an act against Bolsonaro. A video recorded the police mocking the detainee.

On Wednesday, images of the right-wing MP were released, Joyce Hasselmann, with disfigured face and several broken ribs. Hasselmann is a repentant Bolsonarist. His account of the events is contradictory and does not allow us to know whether the aggressor acted with political or personal motivation.

Bolsonarist electronic “militias” celebrated beating and the general Augusto Heleno, minister in charge of intelligence, joked about the deputy. In Brasilia, they claim that Bolsonaro has been furious with Hasselmann since he questioned the veracity of the stab wounds the then presidential candidate suffered in 2018.