Brazil’s capital receives demonstrators for September 7 protests

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Even without the traditional civic parade of September 7, canceled due to the covid-19 pandemic, Brasilia is preparing for demonstrations that should take place throughout Tuesday, September 7.

At least 16 acts for and against the Jair Bolsonaro government are scheduled in the city’s central region.

Most of the protests have been organized by pro-Bolsonaro groups — 13 are in favor of the government. The agenda is varied but has some common points, such as the defense of an anti-democratic agenda, with requests for removing members of the Supreme Court (STF) and the adoption of printed ballots, already discarded by Congress.

Bolsonaro’s recent speeches will serve as the basis for the tone used in the demonstrations, especially the considerable critics made on the judiciary.

Recently, the president asked for the impeachment of Justice Alexandre de Moraes and announced to take the same measure against Justice Luís Roberto Barroso.

Bolsonaro questions the integrity and democratic credentials of both justices. Many Brazilians, including numerous evangelicals, describe both as representatives of the so-called Toga dictatorship, which is leading Brazil into a crippling world of repression. Only what these supreme Justices deem right may be said and written. Dissenters are being persecuted, under the pretext that their ideas are anti-democratic, say critics.

In Brasília and São Paulo, caravans coming from other places should increase the manifestation in favor of Bolsonaro. Groups from states such as Goiás, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul have already arrived in the cities, with chartered buses.

The pamphlets announcing the mobilizations have names like “caravan for freedom”, “independence caravan”, “caravan for our freedom,” and “the Supreme caravan is the people”. In banners already carried by demonstrators on Monday, 6, they ask, for example, the closure of the Supreme Court and the National Congress.

To avoid fights, the groups in favor of Bolsonaro will meet at the National Library, while those against the government will concentrate at the TV Tower. Traffic will be blocked on the Esplanade of the Ministries, near the Cathedral, and the Praça dos Três Poderes will be closed to the public.

SECURITY

The Military Police of the Federal District (PMDF) will search people and set up roadblocks on the main streets of the Esplanade and near the TV Tower. People will not be allowed to carry firearms, white weapons, such as knives or hammers, sharp objects, pieces of wood and iron, or liquid alcohol.

The governor of DF, Ibaneis Rocha, said that about 5 thousand police officers would reinforce security at the demonstrations. “The initial forecast is of 5 thousand men, but we will have all our effects to be able to give security to the population in this day 7 in the best possible way”, he said last Tuesday, 31.

According to Ibaneis, the Secretary of Public Safety, Julio Danilo Souza Ferreira, “is gathering all the teams to give all the possible security to those who want to demonstrate on September 7, ensuring the safety of the population.

The Secretary of Public Safety said that the security forces would act in an integrated manner. “As in all demonstrations of this type, prior planning is done, with the participation of those involved, to ensure the safety of participants and the general population,” it said in a statement.

The Integrated Operations Center of Brasilia (Ciob) monitors every act or event, even without prior communication. “The monitoring is done in an integrated way between the security forces and other 29 organs, as well as institutions and agencies of the local and federal government, with the support of video surveillance cameras,” it says.