Brazilians oppose attempts to keep lawmakers and Bolsonaro out of court
The nation’s largest leftist protests in years saw tens of thousands of Brazilians take to the streets in major cities on Sunday to oppose legislative attempts to hide federal politicians and former President Jair Bolsonaro from the courts.
The demonstrations, which were coordinated by political parties, unions, and social groups, condemned lawmakers who were attempting to evade legal action against themselves and Bolsonaro, who was imprisoned for a coup attempt after his followers broke into government facilities after losing the 2022 election.
With numbers comparable to recent right-wing protests against Bolsonaro’s sentencing in major cities, it was the first significant march since his conviction this month and brought to light the glaring differences in one of the biggest democracies in the world.
“I hope today’s demonstration outnumbers the one held by the right wing, so we can put pressure on Congress,” commented Renato Fonseca, a 63-year-old Sao Paulo advertising professional wearing a T-shirt that read “1964 Never Again”—a reference to the coup that set off a violent military dictatorship in Brazil that lasted for two decades and ended in 1985.
“Bolsonaro almost pulled a coup on us. Even though I was young in 1964, he said, “I never thought we would be so close to another dictatorship.”
In a history marred by bloody coups, the Supreme Court’s conviction of Bolsonaro and his fellow conspirators in the military and government was the first time Brazil has penalized military officers for trying to topple democracy.
Allies are already trying to help Bolsonaro through political routes, from legislative amnesty to a pardon from the next president, but he is still under house arrest until he has exhausted all appeals of his 27-year prison sentence.
A plan that could provide relief to former Bolsonaro and his followers who were imprisoned for participating in the 2023 federal building storming was voted to move forward last week by a conservative majority in the lower house of Congress.
Last week, lower house MPs also took advantage of the opportunity to approve a proposed constitutional change that would allow Congress to prevent federal lawmakers from being charged with crimes.
“The protests today demonstrate that the populace opposes amnesty and impunity. In a social media post featuring images from protests across the nation, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated that the national Congress must concentrate on policies that serve the Brazilian people.
“To defend democracy, I came.”
According to crowd estimates from researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, about 40,000 protesters crowded several blocks of Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo to celebrate Bolsonaro’s imprisonment and voice their opposition to those attempts in Congress.
At least since October 2022, when crowds flocked to the same road to celebrate President Lula’s election, it was the largest attendance for protests organized by Brazil’s left.
In contrast to a similar-sized pro-Bolsonaro demonstration a few weeks prior, where protesters rolled out a massive U.S. flag to celebrate U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to intervene and pressure Brazilian judges and the nation’s judiciary on Bolsonaro’s behalf, organizers unfurled a nearly 15-meter Brazilian flag with the words “No Amnesty.”
“The Brazilian people own Brazil. Wearing the Brazilian national team’s soccer jersey, which Bolsonaro supporters have long used as their protest uniform, Scarlett Angelotti, a 62-year-old professor in Sao Paulo, stated, “I came to defend democracy, stand against extremism, and say no to immunity and amnesty for coup plotters.”
Protesters also gathered in large numbers along Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, yelling “Bolsonaro in jail” and “No amnesty!” prior to performances by well-known musicians who had been banished by Brazil’s military dictatorship for many years. Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, and Caetano Veloso were confirmed to appear by the organizers.
