RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro arrived in a Rolls-Royce convertible for the Independence Day ceremony at the Alvorada Palace on Monday morning, September 7th.
In the car, Bolsonaro was joined by a group of some ten children and greeted supporters. In a small setting, the event took place outside the Alvorada Palace.
Just before Bolsonaro arrived, First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro arrived along with the Presidency’s Special Secretary of Communication, Fabio Wajngarten, and the Secretary of Culture, Mario Frias.
Last weekend, the two engaged in controversy by criticizing a satire by comedian Marcelo Adnet of the official structure of SECOM (Special Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency).
On Saturday, Frias reacted in a threatening tone to a post by state deputy Flavio Serafini on the matter. “Be careful with the Federal Police…”, wrote Frias on Twitter.
Small structure
For Monday’s ceremony, the government set up a small structure at the Alvorada Palace so that authorities, the press, and even the President’s supporters could attend the hoisting of the flag. After that, there was a performance of the Brazilian Air Force’s Smoke Squadron for approximately ten minutes.
Initially, SECOM announced that the event would be restricted to guests, but the venue was eventually opened to dozens of people on the grounds that the structure was designed to welcome visitors who daily come to the Alvorada Palace, which led to crowding.
The President’s supporters held flags of Brazil, the United States, and Israel. Not everyone was wearing a mask.
Some of the main authorities of Brasília were invited by the government to the ceremony, such as the presidents of the Chamber Rodrigo Maia, of the Senate Davi Alcolumbre, and of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Dias Toffoli, as well as cabinet Ministers and Heads of the Armed Forces.
The Chamber president chose not to attend the celebration. According to Maia’s advisors, the legislator was not able to attend because he was in Rio at the time of the event. Last year he also failed to attend, because he was traveling to Qatar.
Source: Estadão Conteúdo