Activist Sara Winter Laments: “I Don’t Recognize Bolsonaro Anymore”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a lengthy Facebook post, Sara, who was arrested on June 15th by order of Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes as part of an inquiry into anti-democratic street rallies, says she no longer recognizes the President. She has been under house arrest wearing an anklet since the end of that month.

“I don’t know who he (Bolsonaro) is anymore. The man I decided to hand over my fate and life to protect a conservative legacy,” she said.

In a string of videos posted on Instagram’s stories feature, Sara cried and said she was depressed. “I’m going to need to get up and solve my problems. And there’s no Bolsonaro to help and there’ s no Damares (Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights) to help,” she said.

The activist said she felt “envious” of STF Justice Dias Toffoli for having been hugged by the President. CNN Brasil footage showed Bolsonaro hugging the ex-Chief Justice during a meeting on Saturday, October 3rd, attended by Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, nominated to fill Celso de Mello’s seat in the Supreme Court.

According to Sara, all the people who had contact with her, starting with the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, are being exonerated. She was employed by the portfolio, but was dismissed in October last year.

The activist added that an official request for her defense in the Ministry in June regarding her arrest, which she classifies as “political,” was not analyzed.

In the post, Sara also claimed to have been reprimanded by the GSI (Institutional Security Office) Minister General Augusto Heleno, for the way the “300 do Brasil” group she leads dealt with the press.

“General Heleno prohibited me from shouting at the press, from telling them to leave, from shouting ‘Globo garbage’. Because… poor journalists that f… Bolsonaro’s life every day. They need to work, Ms. Sara! Don’t bother them anymore”, wrote the activist.

“We were ‘advised’ by deputies of the allied base not to speak ill of (Rodrigo) Maia or the STF, not to interfere, of course,” she added.

In reaction, General Heleno confirmed yesterday afternoon that he welcomed Sara and members of the group in May to “advise them”. “We had a friendly, polite and productive dialogue. The goal was to advise them to moderate their positions and cooperate with everyone’s safety at the Alvorada’s doorstep. There was no disagreement, reprimand or threat.”

In her post, Sara also says she wants “a Brazil free of communism and abortion” and that “in the Bolsonaro government there are no human rights for conservatives.”

In another post, she denied being against the President. “I’m not crazy to be against him. I’m the crazy one who wants to understand why all Bolsonarists are being purged from the Bolsonaro government,” she wrote.

Source: UOL