Jair Bolsonaro will spend the New Year in OrlandoNot far from Disney World. Imitating the last Brazilian dictator, General Joao Baptista Fihueiredothe one who did not hand over the presidential sash to the first civilian president in 1985, the retired captain left his country this Friday to avoid handing over the symbols of command to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, that last Sunday he assumed his third presidency in a Brasilia armored against the risk of attack.
The fact is that Bolsonaro left the country, and anticipated his departure from the Government, after two defeats. On October 30, he lost in the second round to Lula, the leader of the workers party (PT), becoming the first head of government not to be re-elected since 1998: a complete fiasco. He later failed in his project to carry out a coup with the consent of the Armed Forces or to orchestrate something like an assault on the Capitol, following the recipe of the one carried out by donald trump Who would you like to visit during your recently started vacation in Florida, where you left after whining in your last speech before millions of Internet users on social networks.
Is Bolsonaro finished?, he asked Page 12 José Genoíno, one of the leaders of the PT – a party he chaired and of which he is one of its founders along with Lula. “Bolsonaro is beaten, he is a person who fled from the government, he spent two months without exercising the presidency locked up in the Alvorada Palace (official residence) but at the same time we are dealing with a highly dangerous person. The fact that he is beaten does not mean that he is out of the game, we must not lose sight of the fact that he may be playing pity to justify a white amnesty, an oblivion, that would be a big mistake “.
“We have to remember that he is a leader who has a social base throughout the country, he is supported by sectors of big business, by sectors of the middle class that are going to continue trying to destabilize. The last thing we should do is underestimate him. He is the first proto-fascist mass leader we have in Brazil for many years Bolsonaro spent four years in government acting as what he is: a defender of the dictatorshipa defender of torture, of femicide, a type that attacks the indigenous population, a person who does not have the minimum of dignity. We cannot let us forget who this person is, he is not someone from the right with whom you can have a dialogue, he is a threat to everything we understand by civilization “.
How do you imagine the opposition from January 2?
They are going to act looking for all the ways to cause political instability. They are going to continue working in the streets and they are going to work within Congress where they will have a very strong weight, and in the courts they are going to look for legal uncertainty. And they are a movement with territorial strength, they control the states of São Paulo, with the governor Tarcisio de FreitasRio de Janeiro with claudio castro and Minas Gerais with romeu zema, although this is not a pure Bolsonarista. We are talking about the three states with the largest population, with the most federal legislators and with the largest budget in the country.
Bolsonaro, the “unmentionable”
During the interview Genoíno refers to the outgoing president as Bolsonaro and once directly as “unmentionable” Giving a hint of irony that does not detract from his analysis of the character.
When embarking for the United States, Bolsonaro was fired by only three ministers: the head of Defense, General Paulo Sergio de Oliveirathe head of the Institutional Security Cabinet, General Augustus Hellenusand the chancellor Carlos Alberto Franca. There was no leader of the conservative parties participating in his government.
Is the right going to abandon Bolsonaro?
The traditional parties of the right, those that are within the “Centrao” (coalition of various conservative forces) are not committed to the death with Bolsonaro, they will seek their own convenience, and will continue with him depending on his approval. Bolsonaro had 49% of the votes in the second round of October against him, there are 58 million votes, but they are not unconditional votes. A recent survey showed that 75% of the people are against the coup camps in front of the Army Headquarters and in other military units.
Is Bolsonaro afraid of being arrested?
I do not know Bolsonaro’s privacy, it seems to me that he is afraid because he is aware of his vulnerability, as head of government for four years he committed various crimes and from Monday he will be a person without a privileged forum. In Brazil almost died 700,000 people by coronavirus when hundreds of thousands could be alive today if Bolsonaro had not boycotted vaccines. His children are also charged in various cases.
Brasilia dawns armored
Never since the end of the dictatorship has the transition from one government to another been so threatened by violence as it is these days. Brasilia woke up rainy and armored this Saturday on the eve of Lula’s takeover.
Thousands of police officers (many of them Bolsonaro supporters) have been mobilized to guarantee security on the avenue where the ruler was going to parade in the early afternoon of last Sunday. So it was not known if he was going to do it together with his wife, the sociologist. Rosangela Jansa Silvaaboard a convertible Rolls Royce or inside a covered and armored vehicle.
The risk of an assassination or an attack on the crowd grew after the failed attack on the Brasilia International Airport, disrupted hours before Christmas Eve. The main suspect George Washington da Silveira Sousa, confessed his intention to blow up the airfield in order to unleash the “chaos” propitiating a military intervention against Lula’s inauguration. The alleged terrorist acknowledged having frequented the Army Headquartersabout five kilometers from the center of Brazil, where hundreds of extremists set up a camp in which they claimed responsibility for the coup.
What links can there be between the failed attack and Bolsonaro?
I cannot affirm that there is a direct link between him (Bolsonaro) and the attack that was attempted at the airport. What is evident is that Bolsonaro spent two months inside the Alvorada Palace, without governing, only dedicated to conspiring to prevent Lula from taking office.
There are many indications that link him to the proto-fascists camped in the army barracks and there are clues that link some of these militants to the attempted attack. last week the Federal police He arrested four suspects and raided dozens of homes of people who were at the General Headquarters, suspects who were accused of attempted coup d’état.
I think it is time to advance those investigations ordered by the judge Alexander de Moraes and supported by Lula’s future Justice Minister, flavio dino. I think that Flavio Dino is doing and will do a great job in the Government. On the other hand, the way in which the appointed Minister of Defense is acting does not seem correct to me, Jose Mucio Monteiro.
Prisoner of the dictatorship
Jose Genoino He was imprisoned during the military dictatorship for participating in the armed resistance in the 1960s, and half a century later he would be arrested as part of the persecution of Lava Jato processmodel of lawfare later replicated in various countries in the region. During the Government of Dilma Rousseff He was an adviser to the Ministry of Defense, an area in which he is an expert.
What to do with the Armed Forces?
First we have to understand that these barracks camps are backed by the military. This anomaly of having people asking for a coup is an instrument used by the Armed Forces, particularly the Army, to put pressure on the new government, to condition the transition, they do not want a transition, they want continuity, to protect the democratic government. Guardianship is something traditional in Brazilian history. We have to remember what happened in the story. Unlike what happened in the transition to democracy in Argentina, military tutelage was maintained here and there was no progress either in memory or justice.
