Supreme Court orders police and military to dissolve truck drivers’ protests over Lula victory and opens first investigation into police inaction
Tensions in Brazil continue to mount after Sunday’s presidential election that gave left-wing candidate Lula da Silva victory. To the ominous silence of Jair Bolsonaro, who has not made any statement of his defeat, the roadblocks are added by groups of truck drivers related to the far-right leader. The proliferation of protests, which even created friction with neighboring Paraguay, has infuriated the Superior Electoral Court, which has ordered the police and military to lift the barricades and clear the roads. Fears of a shortage of gas stations are growing among the population, as twenty of the country’s twenty-seven states have seen some of their main communication routes collapse. The carriers view Lula’s victory as a hoax, in line with the mantra the outgoing president himself spread during the election campaign, in that his defeat would only be possible through manipulation.
Some observers are beginning to believe that Bolsonaro’s prolonged silence is intended to warm the atmosphere, in addition to generating fear and uncertainty about Brazil’s immediate future. No one knows whether the hours he spends locked up in his home, where he has been receiving a group of ministers since Sunday evening, are used to search with his advisers for the slightest argument to substantiate an allegation of fraud. The problem is that even their foreign ministers are gradually acknowledging defeat. Only his son Flavio timidly appealed to the outburst on Monday by asking his father’s voters to “raise their heads.”
The behavior of the outgoing head of government is not far from that of his admired Donald Trump. The difference is that the former US president came out from minute one to expose false electoral fraud and anger his supporters, while the Latin American leader has chosen to leave the ball alone. Two hours after confirming his fall in the polls by less than two million votes to Lula, the government palace turned off the lights and the main tenant has not been spoken to or seen since. It is the first time in the history of an election in Brazil that the losing candidate has not made any official statements, especially in the case of the head of government. The political situation in Brazil also bears some resemblance to that of the United States in terms of balance of power, albeit more acute in the Latin American case. The new president faces states largely controlled by the right. Bolsonaro’s Liberals also have more seats (99) than the Workers’ Party (80) in the Chamber of Deputies and the same in the Senate: 14 Bolsonaro seats compared to 9 for Lula’s party.
In the Workers’ Party team, they take it practically for granted that Bolsonaro will not organize the transfer of power when his leader takes the presidency on January 1. So did Trump, leaving only Joe Biden in his oath as the new White House tenant. In fact, the secret services had to deactivate the nuclear briefcase and go to his mansion to look for it, since the Republican didn’t even deliver it to put it into Biden’s hands. It remains to be seen how much support Bolsonaro has and whether he also copies Donald Trump, who retains considerable power among the Republicans. Among this party’s candidates running for the US 8th midterm election, those who still believe Trump fell victim to a fall in the polls stand out.
Several Brazilian ministers and senior officials have already recognized Lula’s victory. The spokesman for the new president, Edinho Silva, said this morning that his team has started talks with the Minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira, about the transition of the government. Silva explained that the minister “has shown his willingness to lead this process” and emphasized his “republican and democratic” stance. “We believe that the dialogue will flourish and that we can start the transition in the coming days. A peaceful, mature and mature transition, especially now that the elections are over and what is at stake today is Brazil and the interests of the Brazilian people,” emphasized the left-wing spokesman, before asking that the incidents on the roads do not stop the dialogue. Silva added that the truck drivers’ blockades stem from the most radical sectors of Bolsonaroism, while “majority sentiment, including the parties and leaders who are part of Bolsonaro’s government, are sending us signals to start a dialogue.” to build.”
Where the words of the new spokesman do not seem to resonate is on the border with Paraguay. A driver caught at a roadblock got out of his car and fired several shots into the air. Dozens of truck drivers and motorists have run away or hid under their vehicles amid panic scenes that ended when the Paraguayan National Police arrested the gunman, a lawyer who confessed his intention was not to hurt anyone.
Thousands of Brazilians have flocked to gas stations since last night, especially in border areas and on the ring roads of major capital cities, fearing they would run out of supplies if the transporters continue the protests. There are 20 states registering nearly 300 blockades this Tuesday, for which the Supreme Court president has taken action. Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the “immediate clearance of the roads” “unlawful” on pain of a 100,000 reais fine (about 20,000 euros) for every hour of blockade that occurs after the next midnight.
Moraes warned Bolsonaro in the last days of the campaign to stop sowing doubts about the possible illegality of the elections. Since yesterday, it has been his job to ensure that the post-election scenario does not get out of hand. His department, among other things, tries to prevent the infiltration of officials and members of Bolsonarism into institutions and security forces that could change Brazil’s political and social life. A clear example of the far-right movement’s goals, hundreds of people protested in the capital last morning demanding military intervention against Lula’s arrival at the presidential palace.
The magistrate has charged the Federal Highway Police on the grounds that “it has failed to fulfill its constitutional and legal duty” and it is possible that its director, Silvinei Vasques, will eventually be fired. He also contacted outgoing Attorney General Anderson Torres to order the Attorney General and military police commanders in the country’s 27 states to take “the relevant measures” to put down the protests. Torres has assured through social networks that the progress of the blockades is being monitored “minute by minute” and that he has ordered the police to be reinforced. For its part, the Public Prosecution Service collects information about each security deployment to investigate “the possible facilitation” of the police in the mobilizations of the carriers.
Source: La Verdad
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