Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Sept. 7, the day Brazil celebrates its 200th anniversary, that the country’s freedom is at stake, alluding to elections to be held in October.
“What is at stake is our freedom, our future; the people know that it is they who give us the direction for our decisions,” Bolsonaro told TV Brasilia before participating in the military parade that passes through Brasilia’s avenidas.
Bolsonaro called on people to attend public events on Sept. 7 (organized mainly by supporters of the president), saying that with his coming to power, “patriotism has been resurrected” in the country.
Elsewhere, addressing authorities present at the Alvorada Palace (the official residence), Bolsonaro cited tense moments in Brazilian history, including the 1964 military coup, pointing out that “history can repeat itself” and that “good has always defeated evil.”
“We know that we are facing a battle of good against evil, an evil that has devastated our country for 14 years, that has almost destroyed our homeland and that now wants to return to the scene of the crime; it will not return, the people are on our side, the people are on the side of good, the people know what they want,” the president affirmed.
After attending the military parade in Brasilia, Bolsonaro headed to another part of the capital’s central region to meet with his supporters.
Far from the institutional tone expected on Independence Day, Bolsonaro used the opportunity to campaign, calling on his supporters to “convince” those who think differently about what is best for Brazil.
Bolsonaro also assured that if he is re-elected, he will include “all those who dare to move outside the Constitution” in the four lines of the Constitution, an indirect allusion to the Federal Court judges he keeps attacking.
Attending the military parade and his supporters’ rally in Brasilia is only part of the Brazilian president’s busy schedule on Sept. 7; in the afternoon, he will travel to Rio de Janeiro, where he is expected to make a similar statement on Copacabana Beach.
The president’s opponents accuse him of politicizing a date that should represent the unity of all Brazilians and using it to his advantage, while he is trailing former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) in all polls ahead of October’s presidential election.