RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday (10) called for “calm” from his far-right supporters who accused him of being a “traitor” after he backed away from his threats against democracy and said he would “never” “attack” institutions.
“We have to stay calm. You can’t do everything or nothing,” Bolsonaro declared after being criticized by his more radical supporters for changing his tone from his fiery speech last Tuesday when he called on a crowd to disobey Supreme Court rulings and sharply criticized Parliament.
These demonstrations, led by Bolsonaro, had been called for by various far-right groups, who again displayed numerous posters during the events calling for the “dissolution” of Congress and the dismissal of the 11 Supreme Court justices.
Bolsonaro’s defiant tone spurred these groups, but after a wave of criticism from all political and economic sectors, the president took a step back and published a letter to the nation in which he called for “harmony” among the nation’s forces and said he would “never” “attack” the country’s institutions.
He also called for suspending a protest by truckers blocking roads in various parts of the country demanding the removal of the Supreme Court, which was accepted by the demonstrators, albeit very reluctantly and with criticism of what they called the ruler’s “cowardice.”
“We will return to normality. Tuesday 7 was a great day,” Bolsonaro told a small group of supporters Friday, before whom he stressed that the letter to the nation was not a step backward but an attempt to deal with the possible economic impact of the truckers strike.
“People would feel it, it would complicate the economy and lead to more inflation,” he said of the trucker movement.
Still, many far-right activists took to social media, feverishly active, to show their discontent and disappointment with Bolsonaro. “After a show of strength by the people, the president shows weakness. A very complicated situation for the patriots. Bolsonaro may have signed his defeat,” wrote journalist Rodrigo Constantino, an influential voice of Bolsonarismo.
Evangelical pastor Jackson Vilar, who organizes many of Bolsonaro’s motorcycle tours, called the president a “traitor” and said he “no longer has the slightest respect” for him. In a video posted on his social media, he went even further, saying, “I burned my T-shirts with Bolsonaro’s name. I no longer believe in this scoundrel.
The outrage of many Bolsonaristas was even greater when it was revealed that former President Michel Temer had been called by the government to help contain the institutional conflict. He was the author of many paragraphs of the letter to the nation.
Disappointment among the Bolsonaristas went so far that many groups of this base have announced that they will support demonstrations next Sunday called by the center and the more moderate right to demand the ouster of the president.
ABOUT BOLSONARO CALLING TEMER TO TALK
As an example of how strongly Bolsonaro’s action irritates part of his base, read this message, spreading like wildfire on social media in Brazil:
“If you have a dog on your street that bites everyone, will you talk to the dog or the dog’s owner? That’s it! Now you understand! Temer is the dog’s owner. He created the dog.
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“Without much effort, with calm and intelligence, the dog’s owner will put a muzzle on him, put him in a collar and tell him to be quiet, and he will no longer bite anyone. Peace and order will return to the street.
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“I want to remind you here that, with almost 100% certainty, this dog bites at the behest of the others in the pack. If he is neutralized by the owner, the whole pack will be lost and neutralized, too, since he is the “fatso”, and the others don’t have the courage to go out biting.
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“If even so, the dog goes out biting anyone who comes near, then there will be no other alternative but to sacrifice him but with the full consent of the owner. The result will be the same: The neutralization of the pack.
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“And why talk amicably with the owner? Well… The dog’s owner is one of the bigwigs of the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement), one of the parties that Bolsonaro needs to keep close and on his side to pass reforms and maintain his governability.
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“There is no point in kicking the dog because, being a dog, he won’t understand why he is being kicked. He is irrational, remember? The best thing is to talk to the owner and continue being “friends” with your neighbor.
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“I repeat: If the dog continues biting even after his master’s order to be quiet, then his master will agree to sacrifice him. In fact, he will recommend the sacrifice because the dog’s owner himself will want to keep the peace and subsequently not be accused of having been the cause of the chaos. And isn’t that what we want?
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“Politics is an art that requires emotional intelligence.
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“Summary: There is no point in causing chaos in the street because of a mad dog. Let the dog hang itself from its own collar in its madness or give reasons for its owner to ask for its sacrifice.”