Protesters Disregard Covid-19 Alert to Demonstrate Against Congress in Brazilian Cities

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Despite the Ministry of Health’s recommendation that people avoid crowds to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, government supporters met on Sunday morning, March 15th, in several cities in Brazil for the protests called against Congress.

In Rio, the demonstration was held on Copacabana beach, in the capital’s South Zone. Protests were recorded in at least 11 other capitals, such as São Paulo, Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Belém and Maceió.

After calling the population to the streets and building tension with the other governmental branches, President Jair Bolsonaro had recommended last Thursday that the population stay at home.

Yesterday, however, he posted videos of protests with a banner “Maia, Out!”. Bolsonaro himself left the Alvorada Palace and headed to the Planalto Palace ramp to greet demonstrators.

Both in Rio and Brasília, posts were set up to collect signatures for the creation of the Alliance for Brazil, a new political party that Bolsonaro is trying to establish after leaving the PSL. In Brasília, there were people walking around with registration forms urging demonstrators to sign it.

The collection of signatures for the Alliance has been facing difficulties in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which has reported that it has found signatures of deceased persons.

In order to obtain approval from the TSE, the Alliance requires valid signatures of 500,000 voters. The party has already submitted over 80,000 signed forms to the TSE, which rejected 13,000 on suspicion of irregularities.

Many people turned up for the protests wearing protective masks. At Posto 4 in Copacabana, the Clean Brazil Movement’s car called for the arrest of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the removal of the presidents of both the Chamber, Rodrigo Maia, and the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre.

The Rio and Federal District State Police declined to release estimates of the public present in the protests.

After the tension caused by summoning the demonstrations, Bolsonaro had stated that these were not against Congress. However, supporters on a sound car in Rio stated “We are against the institutions, we are against these scoundrels, criminals, who are sabotaging Brazil,”  after mentioning Maia and Alcolumbre.

The protesters also called for the removal of the governor of Rio, Wilson Witzel, a former Bolsonaro ally. They also challenged the existence of the coronavirus, saying it was “strange” because people were not wearing masks and there was no hand sanitizer among the supporters.

“We’re more afraid of corrupt politicians than of coronavirus. Coronavirus is a cold, they’re a plague. Rodrigo Maia owes the Brazilian people an explanation. The people went to Lollapalooza, Flamengo’s game, I don’t see the problem of being here. They want to prevent the society’s right to demonstrate,” said one of the supporters in Rio.

Despite being part of the group at risk of the new disease, seniors were predominant among those present at the Copacabana demonstration. Motorcyclists stood in line in the middle of the crowd shouting “Maia, Out!” and raising the Brazilian flag.

Supporters of the President attended the demonstration with customized masks. One of them, popular among the demonstrators, said “virus scoundrel”. Others were painted with the Brazilian flag.

In Rio, Geraldo Soares, 55, attended the protest wearing a protective mask with the words “What has killed Brazilians for many years is corruption”.

“I want to know who he is (Rodrigo Maia) in the bread line. I don’t get a Family Grant, no government benefits and I came for free,” he said.

At the protest in Brasília, which began around 9 AM, the president’s supporters spread banners outside the National Congress with criticism of legislators and the Federal Supreme Court (STF), as well as words of support for Bolsonaro. A sound car was also driven to the venue. According to the organizers, the Federal District State Police authorized the use of the sound equipment.

In São Paulo, demonstrators shouted against Governor João Doria, who, along with Witzel, distanced himself from Bolsonaro. They concentrated outside the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), around a sound car of the conservative Right-wing Movement group, the only one in the area.

The city hall’s decision not to hold the Open Streets program on Avenida Paulista on Sunday because of the coronavirus angered the leaders present at the demonstration. They chose Doria as their target and chanted attacks against him. With the vehicle parked on Pamplona Street, they were prevented from accessing the Avenue, under penalty of a fine of R$5,800, according to organizers.

“We are the only movement that decided to face this war. We have to show Doria that the people are in charge here,” declared one of the leaders into the microphone.

Restrictions

On Friday night, Governor João Doria announced a number of restrictive measures, such as the gradual suspension of classes on the public school system and of events gathering over 500 people. The announcement was made alongside Health Minister Henrique Mandetta, after meeting with state and municipal health authorities in the São Paulo capital.

Asked by the reporter on Sunday to comment on the demonstration on Avenida Paulista, the São Paulo Health Secretariat replied in a note that it “will not comment on this event specifically. It only states that on Friday it recommended that every event with over 500 people be cancelled”.

The governor was also sought, but failed to respond to the request.

On top of the sound truck, Federal Deputy Caroline de Toni (PSL/SC) raised cheers in favor of Bolsonaro, the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, Sérgio Moro, and Olavo de Carvalho. She was moved when she mentioned the author’s name.

“The coronavirus is not important. Brazil deserves everyone’s support,” said De Toni, before promoting attacks on Deputy Joice Hasselmann, who regained the PSL party’s leadership in the Chamber this month, replacing Eduardo Bolsonaro.

José Carlos Siamina, 51, came from Santo André, in the ABC Paulista region, exclusively for the demonstration. He himself produced his protective mask against the coronavirus with a Brazilian flag.

“I think it is a little better, but the truth is that there is no proof that the drugstore one works. If this disease was dangerous, they would have closed all transportation,” he said.

The organization distributed a few masks, while street vendors also sold them for R$5. Others were not concerned and many elderly people felt safe despite attending the demonstration.

“Today it’s hot, nobody’s going to get sick! And this is a noble cause,” said Lilian, 62, who refused to offer her surname.

The protest in São Paulo was not attended by the main advocates of the Bolsonaro government, as at other times, and anonymous people led the speeches. The groups NasRuas (On the Streets), the Conservative Movement and Progress Brazil, which typically take sound cars to protests, preferred to keep the demonstration on social media following Bolsonaro’s live broadcast last Thursday.

However, the unresolved statement sounded the green light for Bolsonarists to disregard the request. One of the government’s most loyal supporters, Federal Deputy Carla Zambelli (PSL/SP) made a video stating that she could not recommend supporters to remain at home on Sunday.

She herself said that if her test to detect contamination from the coronavirus was negative, she would go to Paulista Avenue. The result was not ready in time, and she decided not to attend.

Another fervent supporter, Deputy Marco Feliciano (no party/SP) took to the streets in Ribeirão Preto, interior of São Paulo. On his Twitter, the evangelical pastor published a message of support to Bolsonaro, “against everything and against everyone, against the whole system that mobilized to prevent (the demonstrations)”.

The President himself began to share videos recorded by supporters in demonstrations throughout the country at around 10 AM on Sunday. Last week, he again denied that he had called on the population to demonstrate for the government, although he had urged supporters in Boa Vista (RR), before boarding to the United States, to take to the streets. At the time, he stated that “those who are afraid of the street demonstrations are not fit to be politicians.”

Source: O Globo