Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) held a demonstration on Sunday (21/04), on Copacabana beach, South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The rally in Copacabana is part of the series of acts planned by Bolsonaro to mobilize his militants to demonstrate popular support amid the investigations he is the target of in the STF. The former president is suspected of trying to organize a coup d’état after President Lula’s (PT) victory in the 2022 elections.
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The Event
Bolsonaro climbed into one of the trucks and gave a speech lasting around 35 minutes. The demonstration ended at 12:00, after the former president’s speech. The demonstration occupied two lanes of Avenida Atlântica at Rua Bolívar, between Ruas Xavier da Silveira and Rua Barão de Ipanema – no official public estimate was released. USP professor of management and public policy Pablo Ortellado carried out a survey that showed an estimated audience of 32,700 people present at the event.
Speech by the Former President
In his speech, Bolsonaro criticized the current president, Lula, and government ministers, cited Elon Musk as a myth and a man who preserves freedom, and once again defended amnesty for those arrested for the acts of January 8th – as had already done so at Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo, at the end of February.
Main objective
According to media sources, the main intention of these events, however, is to keep their supporters mobilized and demonstrate political strength. In addition to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Bolsonaro held events in other cities in the country, such as João Pessoa (PB), Fortaleza (CE), Cuiabá (MT), and cities in the interior.
Previous Act
The first event was on Avenida Paulista, an act scheduled four days after Bolsonaro was the target of a search and seizure warrant. On the same day in which the former president called for the act, he went to the Hungarian embassy, in Brasília, where he spent two nights, raising questions, which he refuted, about a possible attempt to shield him in the event of an arrest order.
Censorship on Networks
At the rally in Copacabana, one of the topics addressed by the former president was what he and his followers are calling “censorship of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, on social media”. The issue once again mobilized the Brazilian right after publications by billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (former Twitter), on the topic a week ago.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk attacked, in the first week of April, the decisions of Federal Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes and threatened to reactivate the profiles of users who were blocked by court decision.
Municipal Elections 2024 In Rio, the mobilization also aimed to expand the association of Bolsonaro’s image with that of Ramagem. The former director of Abin had his pre-candidacy for mayor of Rio launched a month ago.
Analysis:
At the event called by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for Copacabana Beach on Sunday (21/04), around 32,700 people were present, according to calculations by the research group Monitor do Debate Político, from USP. This presence on the Rio waterfront represents approximately 18% of the 185,000 participants in the previous demonstration organized by the movement around the former president, in February, on Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo. Compared to the event held in the same location on 7 September 2022, during the presidential campaign, the current concentration corresponds to approximately half of the 65,000 protesters present at the time.
Among the governors present, Cláudio Castro (PL), from Rio de Janeiro, and Jorginho Mello (PL), from Santa Catarina, stand out, however, they did not give speeches during the event. The most notable absence was that of the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans).
