{"id":4180,"date":"2020-02-27T16:36:27","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T16:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/?p=4180"},"modified":"2020-02-27T16:36:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T16:36:27","slug":"outrage-as-jair-bolsonaro-appears-to-endorse-brazil-anti-democracy-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2020\/02\/27\/outrage-as-jair-bolsonaro-appears-to-endorse-brazil-anti-democracy-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Outrage as Jair Bolsonaro appears to endorse Brazil anti-democracy protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>\u2019s apparent endorsement of protests designed to cow Brazil\u2019s democratic institutions has sparked outrage across the political spectrum with one lawmaker warning of a return to the dark days of dictatorship if the demonstrations are not opposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardcore supporters of Brazil\u2019s far-right president are planning nationwide protests on 15 March and have been flooding social media with propaganda videos and fliers attacking members of Congress \u2013 and even proposing a return to military rule under Bolsonaro. Quick guide<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brazil’s dictatorship<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 Show<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One advert for the #SomosTodosBolsonaro (We\u2019re all Bolsonaro) rallies urges Bolsonaristas<\/em> to pile pressure on lawmakers by attending what it calls \u201cFuck You Day\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bolsonaro, a notorious admirer of authoritarian rulers<\/a> such as the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, appeared to sanction the protests this week, sharing one such video with friends and associates on his personal WhatsApp account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the video<\/a> Bolsonaro followers are told: \u201cHe is fighting the corrupt and murderous left for us. He endures smears and lies because he\u2019s doing his best for us \u2026 Let\u2019s show that we support BOLSONARO and reject the enemies of Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s promotion of the anti-democratic mobilization \u2013 which some suspect is designed to undermine or intimidate Congress ahead of a potential attempt to impeach him \u2013 sparked fury in a country that only emerged from two decades of dictatorship in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazil\u2019s president from 1995 to 2002, said that if Bolsonaro was promoting protests against Brazilian democracy the country faced \u201can extremely serious institutional crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo remain silent would be to concur,\u201d Cardoso tweeted<\/a>. \u201cWe must shout while we still have a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another former president, Bolsonaro\u2019s leftwing nemesis Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, urged citizens and politicians to take an urgent stance against the \u201cauthoritarian act\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brazil: tortured dissidents appalled by Bolsonaro’s praise for dictatorship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 Read more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBolsonaro has never gotten on with democracy. He\u2019s a false patriot who is surrendering our sovereignty to the US and condemning the people to poverty,\u201d Lula tweeted<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s rightwing governor, Jo\u00e3o Doria, denounced<\/a> Bolsonaro\u2019s \u201cdeplorable\u201d move: \u201cBrazil fought so hard to rescue its democracy. We must vehemently reject any act that disrespects this country\u2019s democratic institutions and pillars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcelo Freixo, a leftist politician from Rio de Janeiro, warned<\/a>: \u201cThe last time they closed Congress we got 21 years of torture, rape, murder, squeezed wages, debt and a regime that broke the country. We will not allow a repeat of this tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday Bolsonaro \u2013 who is currently battling fresh revelations about his family\u2019s ties to a recently slain hitman<\/a> \u2013 dismissed the criticism as an attempt to \u201cdisrupt the republic\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His politician son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, further fanned the flames, tweeting<\/a>: \u201cIf an H-bomb landed on congress do you really think the people would shed any tears?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vera Magalh\u00e3es, the journalist who first reported Bolsonaro\u2019s sharing of the video, said his latest attack on democracy was of \u201cunheard-of severity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing in the conservative Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo newspaper, Magalh\u00e3es said<\/a> it was time for Brazilian institutions to put the brakes \u201cnot just on the president\u2019s tongue and his WhatsApp, but on his actions\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jair Bolsonaro\u2019s apparent endorsement of protests designed to cow Brazil\u2019s democratic institutions has sparked outrage across the political spectrum with one lawmaker warning of a return to the dark days of dictatorship if the demonstrations are not opposed. Hardcore supporters of Brazil\u2019s far-right president are planning nationwide protests on 15 March and have been flooding social media with propaganda videos… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4181,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4180\/revisions\/4181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}