Bolsonaro Speaks in Protest Supporting Dictatorship-era Decree AI-5 Against Congress

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Demonstrators dressed in green and yellow shirts shouted in favor of the AI-5, the most repressive measure of the military dictatorship, which eliminated civil rights and initiated the persecution of opponents to the regime.

The President’s supporters also shouted “Out, Maia”, in reference to Chamber President Rodrigo Maia, and called for the closure of the Federal Supreme Court (STF); some advocated “military intervention” and an end to social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. There were several banners and posters that clearly stated these demands.

The demonstrators also criticized TV Globo and praised TV Record, a broadcaster aligned with Jair Bolsonaro’s government. A team from Record was surrounded by a group of people who cheered for the station and shouted: “Globo is garbage”. There were approximately 500 people in the crowd, outside the Army Headquarters in Brasília.

Bolsonaro climbed onto the back of a truck to address the crowd, without a microphone. The President’s supporters celebrated each sentence he uttered, at times shouting “myth, myth”.

“We don’t want to negotiate anything,” he said.

The President was referring to several reports from recent days that he had met or made contact with representatives of what he once referred to as “old politics. The contacts -not officially confirmed- were said to have been with Ciro Nogueira, Valdermar Costa Neto, and Gilberto Kassab, leaders of the so-called “Centrão” conservative bloc in Congress.

Bolsonaro was said to have been willing to grant executive positions to these political parties in government entities such as the National Department of Transportation Infrastructure (DNIT) and the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valleys Development Company (CODEVASF).

“There is a new Brazil ahead of us. (…) We must believe, [each one] do our part, so that we can place Brazil in the position it deserves. (…) It is now the people in power. (…) I will do what is necessary so that we can maintain our democracy and ensure what is most sacred among us, which is our freedom,” he said.

The President also said that “[politicians] have to understand that they are subject to the will of the people. And he added: “We all swear one day to give our lives for our country. I will do what I can to change the destiny of Brazil”.

At that moment, the President started coughing and concluded his speech. He has already said on a number of occasions that he has a reflux condition, and that is the cause of this cough. According to Bolsonaro, the condition is not related to the coronavirus.

Source: Poder360