Paris, Other European Cities Hold Rallies for #StopBolsonaroWorldwide

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Several rallies of Brazilians living abroad, supported by organizations and political parties in Brazil, have launched the #StopBolsonaroWorldwide, which took place on Sunday, June 28th, on social media and in-person rallies in some 60 cities in 24 countries. The organizers are calling for the “Bolsonaro-Mourão” mandates to be revoked. In Paris, the rally was held one day in advance.

Given the second round of municipal elections in France on Sunday, the Parisian “Stop Bolsonaro” rally was held on Saturday, June 27th. The venue selected was the Marielle Franco Garden, in the capital’s 10th district, inaugurated in 2019 in honor of the murdered Rio de Janeiro city councilor. The rally was called by the French ‘Lula Livre’ (Free Lula) Committee, the “Levante Mulheres Derrubam Bolsonaro” (Women’s Uprising to Overthrow Bolsonaro), the France-Brazil Alert and the RED-Br (European Network for Democracy in Brazil).

The rally was forced to obey a number of health measures enforced by the French authorities to prevent infection by the novel coronavirus. It could not have over 50 participants, who were required to wear masks and respect social distance. The organizers then asked those interested not to come together at one time and to take turns during the two hours scheduled.

The estimate is that some 150 people joined the protest that ended in a festive atmosphere with the Tamaracá maracatu group, led by Ana Maria Constantinesco. A video was shot and was sent to the #StopBolsonaroWorldwide Live broadcast, organized throughout the day on social media.

Rallies in other cities

Europe, with the integration of 14 countries, is the continent with the movement’s greatest mobilization. Rallies have been held in numerous European cities, such as Porto, Lisbon, Madrid, Vienna, Munich, Strasbourg, Brussels, Bologna, Rome, Amsterdam, and Geneva. In many of them, there was little attendance in person, but the organizers’ plan was also to use the protests to stir up social media. Demonstrations are also planned in other countries (New Zealand, North America, and Latin America) and in several cities in Brazil.

The #StopBolsonaroWorldwide movement was an initiative of FIBRA – Frente Internacional Brasileiros contra o Golpe (Brazilian International Front against the Coup), which was founded in 2016 after the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff by Congress. The movement of Brazilians abroad also promoted the “Lula Livre” campaign in several countries, while the ex-president was imprisoned in Curitiba.

Initially, the unified international rally calling for the annulment of the mandates of “Bolsonaro-Mourão” was scheduled for February, but was deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the continuing spread of the coronavirus and the risks of further infections, the organizers decided to hold the “Stop Bolsonaro” now. According to the movement’s report, they could no longer defer the protest “otherwise there would be no more Brazil left to save from the clutches of the Planalto monster.”

They explain that they are “Brazilian citizens and citizens of other nationalities from all over the world”, who rely on the support of human rights organizations, collective groups for peace and democracy, parties, unions, popular and religious leaders. “We are on the right side of history and we will not stop until we overturn the Bolsonaro/Mourão’s mandates and regain all our social, human, environmental, labor, and economic rights stolen by the Temer and Bolsonaro governments,” they state.

Source: rfi