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The vandals who assaulted the headquarters of the three powers in Brasilia They have very diverse profiles, but they are united by a visceral hatred of “communism” who, according to them, embodies the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvawhom they refuse to see ruling Brazil again.
But who are they and what did these supporters of the far-right ex-president really want on Sunday? Jair Bolsonarowho lost the October presidential elections with Lula?
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They like to take selfies in big moments, and with their faces uncovered. The self-portraits of thirty of them appeared on Tuesday on a whole page of the newspaper O Globo, under the headline: “Selfies on social networks help identification”.
Among them were a Bolsonaro nephew, a famous YouTuber, a plastic artist who participated in the reality show Big Brother Brazil and a reserve general who was head of logistics for the Ministry of Health.
In this directory of white, black and mestizo rioters, young and old, there is also the wife of a former governor, an evangelical pastor, a deputy from the Chamber of Deputies, civil servants, an agronomist, a retiree and a mechanic.
On his Instagram profile, a reserve colonel posted a video in which he hurled insults at the generals of the armed forces: “motherfuckers”, he yells at them.
Others posted videos on Sunday commenting: “They are invading everything”, or they talked about “a war”.
It was mostly anonymous people who mobilized, organizing for days thanks to instant messaging applications, particularly Telegram and WhatsApp. A judicial investigation is ongoing.
Wearing yellow and green T-shirts with the colors of the national flag, in which many were involved, they assaulted the presidential palace of Planalto, the Congress and the Supreme Court.
They sang the national anthem and caused a lot of damage, especially to priceless pieces of art.
“A free Brazil”
The declared objective of these people whom Lula described as “fascists” Y “terrorists”: sow chaos to provoke a military intervention and prevent the “communism” in Brazil.
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The first point they achieved perfectly, at least for almost four hours. For the rest, the army did not leave its barracks.
“I participated in this act because I want a free Brazil, a country without communismhe told AFP. Augustine Ribeiroafter being released after his arrest in Brasilia.
During the electoral campaign, Bolsonaro frequently assured that the victory of Lula, who ruled the Latin American giant between 2003 and 2010, would mean for the country a future like that of neighboring Venezuela.
“The oppressions we have suffered. We believe that in the future we can really become a communist country”, also fears Lucía, a released pensioner who did not want to give her last name.
The bulk of the Bolsonaristas detained after the excesses were in a camp set up in Brasilia after the October elections, which they consider “fraudulent.”
A week before Lula’s inauguration, on January 1, a Bolsonaro supporter failed in an attempted attack in Brasilia.
“We just want freedom. No one went there to kill”, a woman who did not wish to give her name told AFP, after being released from detention.
In fact, unlike the people who attacked the Capitol in Washington two years ago, the rioters in Brasilia were unarmed and no one was killed, in a country where the number of armed civilians increased under the Bolsonaro government.
The buildings attacked were empty: Lula was visiting a municipality in Sao Paulo affected by the rains and there was a parliamentary recess.
Left provocation?
It is not possible to affirm that those who voted for Bolsonaro in October -58 million- approve of this violence, carried out by a hard core of staunch supporters, many of them conspiracy theorists and fed with massive misinformation on social networks.
The thesis of an alleged provocation from the left spread like wildfire.
“When the Bolsonaristas went down there (to the buildings), everything was already damaged. we were betrayed”, told AFP one of the protesters, who assured that there was a presence of “PT infiltrators” (Party of the Workers of Lula) in the place.
“Yes, I read it on social networks, there were infiltrators in our yellow and green movement”, assured Ayrkol Lorena, 62, who was protesting in front of a Bolsonaro camp in Sao Paulo.
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“We are very angry about Lula’s election”, he added.
Although the response of the leftist government was very firm, the Bolsonaro radicals did not give up. Especially considering that the former president, who traveled to the United States two days before Lula’s inauguration and did not participate in the handover ceremony, has been timid in condemning the violence.
“If they think they are going to intimidate us, they are very wrong.“, he claimed Augustine Ribeiro. “Now let’s rest and prepare for a new fight”.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
