On Sunday (26/11), Supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro participated in a demonstration in front of Masp, in São Paulo, to pay homage to Cleriston Pereira da Cunha, a man arrested during the attacks on 8 January, in Brasília. Cunha died on the 20 November, at the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, in the Federal District.
The act
The demonstration lasted around two and a half hours, ending around 16h20, after speeches by senators, deputies, evangelical leaders and Cunha’s family. Protesters occupied both lanes of the Av. Paulista, between Peixoto Gomide and Itapeva streets. The Military Police did not estimate the number of people attending. However, according to a calculation made by researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP), the event brought together 13,321 protesters.
Reviews and Support
Protesters criticized President Lula, called him a “thief”, and Alexandre de Moraes, president of the TSE and minister reporting on cases related to 8 January at the STF (Supreme Federal Court). The minister and the STF were the main targets in the criticisms.
Even without being present, former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) was remembered in speeches, on posters and in the shouts of protesters, who chanted “Bolsonaro returns”.
Analysis:
The act sounds like a return to the streets of the movement that supports former president Jair Bolsonaro and strongly opposes the current government. Even though the event mobilized less than half of the total number of participants in the support act for Bolsonaro on the same Avenida Paulista, on September 7, 2022, when 32,000 people participated, this still represents a return of this group opposing the government back to streets, after a hiatus, which occurred following the act of January 8th. The new act, scheduled for December 10th, only reinforces this understanding. On that date, supporters of the former president are expected to demonstrate against the appointment of the Minister of Justice and Public Security Flávio Dino to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Protests are scheduled to take place in São Paulo and several other cities in Brazil.
