Jair Bolsonaro once again challenges the pandemic and leads a huge trailer of motorcycles

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, once again challenged the pandemic this Saturday and, disregarding local urban bans, he drove a massive motorcycle caravan to São Paulo.

Bolsonaro, one of the world’s most skeptical of the severity of the coronavirus, took part in the caravan convened by its supporters and evangelical groups.

Without a chin strap, the far-right leader led the gigantic parade of thousands of bikers who gathered around the sambadrome of Anhembí, in the capital of São Paulo.

“For freedom, for democracy and accelerate for God!”, Were the starting slogans given by Bolsonaro, who had previously greeted and taken photos with people gathered on Avenida Olavo Fontoura, in the western area. from the largest Brazilian city.

The so-called “Moticada Accelera para Cristo” gave continuity to a series of marches by motorcyclists sympathetic to the president and this time also brought together evangelical groups of the traditional Walk for Jesus, at an event that was canceled this year due to the pandemic.

The March for Jesus has already been the largest street event in the country with 3.5 million participants, overtaking in some editions the Gay Pride parade in São Paulo and the Galo da Madrugada parade in the city of Recife, the most massive during the Brazilian carnival.

The mobilization took place on the exact day they are fulfilled 15 months of a pandemic that leaves nearly 17.3 million confirmed cases and 485,000 deaths associated with covid-19.

The caravan has given up crossing the city center and passing through the traditional avenue Paulista, for do not interfere with trade of this Saturday, while Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Brazil. And also, because it is an area with a high concentration of hospitals.

Therefore, the group chose to travel along peripheral avenues, take regional highways and reach the neighboring town of Jundiaí, 60 kilometers away, for a total of 160 kilometers in a caravan that ended at the Obelisk. from Ibirapuera Park, still in San Pablo.

Slogans against your rival

In one of the stops, Bolsonaro came to impersonate being an orchestral regent when his supporters sang songs against the governor of São Paulo, Joao Doria, a former ally and now one of his main political rivals on the right.

“We are showing strength and unity,” said Bolsonaro, who broadcast the entire trailer live on his social media.

Organized groups of bikers, truckers and other drivers have always sided with Bolsonaro for his ongoing speech reducing the price of compulsory insurance for vehicles, fuel and tolls and removing some camera fines.

Thousands of police officers and few health measures

In this Saturday’s caravan, the militarized police, traffic control and civil guard from San Pablo moved 6,300 agents for event security, which followed the other similar molds made in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro.

During the pandemic, various acts in favor of the government, while ignoring local containment measures and health protocols, while the opposition has promoted a few for specific demands, such as deaths due to racism or lethality in police actions.

However, at the end of May, left-wing parties, social organizations and trade union centers called for a nationwide demonstration against Bolsonaro’s leadership in the face of the pandemic and this also demonstrated a mobilizing power on the part of the opposition.

Source: EFE

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