Pro-Bolsonaro Protests Lose Steam; ‘Transition Has Begun’

In Brazil, protests that have brought out tens of thousands of supporters of outgoing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro have started to lose steam as the teams of Bolsonaro and president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva begin the transition process.

Earlier, roughly 40,000 protesters gathered outside army bases in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia to call on the military to stage a coup and prevent Lula from taking office. The army base protests follow after truckers, a key support group of the outgoing president, placed blockades in major thoroughfares around the country in an attempt to “paralyze” the nation.

It can be recalled that during the campaign period, Bolsonaro instructed his followers to “go to war” if Lula were to “steal” the election. But the outgoing president has been uncharacteristically silent following his defeat. He spoke for the first time since the election Tuesday evening but stopped short of conceding defeat or even mentioning Lula’s name.

But protests have begun to fizzle out. The country’s Federal Highway Police reported that as of Thursday evening, all federal roads have been cleared of blockades, with remaining protesters still partially blocking highways in 24 locations, down from 126 at its peak and 76 on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday evening, Bolsonaro took to social media to urge his supporters to clear the blockades, saying the demonstrations were legitimate but “our methods cannot be those of the left, like property invasion, destruction of goods and restrictions on the right to come and go.”

“Everyone is suffering from the closed roads. I ask you to clear the roads and protest elsewhere,” Bolsonaro said.

Bolsonaro on Tuesday authorized his chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, to lead his transition team while Lula has tapped Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin to lead their side. The two camps met on Thursday afternoon in the capital, Brasilia. 

“The conversation was very fruitful, very objective,” Alckmin told reporters. “The transition has begun … As Lula said in his victory speech, our task is to unite Brazil. So here we go.”

Lula will officially begin his duties on January 1, 2023.

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