they fear that Bolsonaro is planning a coup

Brazil is heading towards a possible institutional cliff scheduled for Tuesday, described as a “rupture” and “ultimatum” by the president Jair Bolsonaro, who called for Independence Day protests across the country against the Federal Supreme Court, which he accuses of violating the Constitution after opening lawsuits against him and his allies for calling for military intervention in front of the High Court.

Before complaints of an opposition coup or invasion of the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia in the style of the far-right Qanon movement, supporters of Donald Trump in the Congress of the United States, Bolsonaro seeks to confront the tribunal with “1 or 2 million people in the street” so that the moderating power of the Republic “is the people and not a couple of judges” .

Faced with this, the Progressive International denounced, in a document signed by hundreds of eminent political figures of the world, which he saw as attacks by the President of Brazil on the democracy and he warned of a possible coup in this country, just before the official march.

In the letter, the signatories argue that the rallies scheduled for tomorrow pose a danger to democracy and could resemble the insurgency led by supporters of Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol on 1/6.

Fears of a coup

“Right now, President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies – including white supremacist groups, military police and officials at all levels of government – are preparing a nationwide march against the Supreme Court and Congress on September 7, exacerbating fears of a coup in the third largest democracy in the world, ”the letter said.

“We are sounding the alarm: on September 7, 2021, an insurgency will endanger democracy in Brazil”, they say.

The letter was signed by 165 politicians from 26 different countries, including several former presidents, former prime ministers, former ministers of state, deputies and senators, such as the former Spanish socialist president, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero; the former Greek Minister of the Economy and current Member of Parliament, Yanis Varoufakis; the former presidents of Paraguay or Colombia, Fernando Lugo and Ernesto Samper; the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Argentinian Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; and the French or British left-wing leaders, Jean Luc Mélenchon and Jeremy Corbyn.

The letter states that “President Bolsonaro has stepped up his attacks on democratic institutions of Brazil in recent weeks “and recalls that” on August 10, (the president) led an unprecedented military parade in the capital, Brasilia, and his allies in Congress promoted sweeping reforms to the country’s electoral system widely regarded as the one of the most reliable in the world “.

He refers to Bolsonaro’s frustrated attempt to change the electronic voting system to also reintroduce paper ballots, claiming – without presenting any evidence – that there is an ongoing conspiracy to digitally manipulate the vote in the scheduled presidential elections. in October 2022. In August, Congress rejected such an initiative launched by parliamentarians linked to the government. “Bolsonaro and his government have threatened – on several occasions – to cancel the presidential elections of 2022 if Congress does not approve these reforms,” ​​the manifesto adds.

“Everyone should buy a gun”

Last week, the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, summoned the population to buy rifles “so as not to be enslaved” and pledged that the protests he participates in on September 7, Independence Day, will be peaceful. disavow the Federal Supreme Court, which is investigating him for attacking the electoral system and disseminating false news to the population.

“Everyone has to buy a gun. An armed people will never be enslaved. I know it’s expensive to have one, but there are some idiots who say ‘no, you have to buy beans’. Whoever does not want to buy a rifle must not buy it, but does not break the balls of whoever he wants, “the president told his supporters.

The allusion to the bean faces criticism of the growing inflation in the country and the increase in the basic food basket, the bean being one of the staples of the Brazilian daily diet.

These statements were made amid tensions with the Supreme Federal Court and preparations for the Bolsonarist marches of September 7, which caused a great stir as there were police officers who summoned the officers to participate in the protests.

Governors called on the police to obey the law and stay out of politics, which is prohibited by law.

“I will participate in the deeds and I will tell the world various truths, we will stand up for freedom above our own lives,” Bolsonaro said, encouraging a ghost about a possible victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Leader of the Opposition, in the 2022 election.

Bolsonaro described an electoral judge who determined the end of monetization in the American platform YouTube and on Facebook Bolsonarist chains accused of fomenting hatred and undermining democracy.

The ultra-right seeks to regroup its electoral force on September 7 and promised today that “there will be no unrest” in the demonstrations because they will be “good people” who “do not attack not the police “.