New Protests erupt in Brazil to demand the removal of Bolsonaro

Hundreds of Brazilians protested this Saturday in the main cities of Brazil to demand the removal of the president Jair Bolsonaro at a time when the government is going through its worst moment.

The protests in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Sao Paulo and Brasilia, in addition to a hundred cities, were called by the “National Campaign Out with Bolsonaro”, backed by a dozen left-wing parties, union centrals and the group Direitos Já! that brings together leaders from 19 banks.

Although the demonstrations achieved a greater adherence of parties than in past mobilizations, the right-wing groups that broke with the government refused to participate.

In the central Candelaria neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of people marched carrying banners that read “Bolsonaro Out” and flags of the Workers’ Party (PT), of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), of the Democratic Labor Party (PDT), the Communist Party (PC do B), among others.

“We are going to get him out, the bet of the people present in the streets is that we will make the parliamentarians be pressured and end up asking for impeachment” of Bolsonaro, Elizabeth Simoes, a 69-year-old retired teacher, told AFP.

More than a hundred requests for impeachment against Bolsonaro await in the Chamber of Deputies, but its president Arthur Lira, an ally of the government, has given signs that they will not be processed.

The rallies showed a broader spectrum of flags, not the red ones of the PT that used to predominate in the past, with banners of the Central Unica de Trabajadores (CUT), the LGBT movement and that of Brazil, which predominates in the pro marches. -Bolsonaro.

“Broad forehead, impeachment now” read on banners.

Besieged by judicial investigations, inflation, unemployment and a chaotic management of the pandemic that leaves almost 600,000 dead, Bolsonaro’s popularity plummeted in recent months to 22%, its lowest level since he came to power in January 2019.

“Everything is very expensive, the fault is Bolsonaro,” read on banners in El Salvador or next to an inflatable gas cylinder in Rio.

One year before the 2022 elections, the far-right president would obtain 26% of the vote in the first round, compared to 44% for Lula, according to a poll by the Datafolha Institute on September 17.

This week, the president focused on celebrating his 1,000 days in office with acts and inaugurations, leaving aside the harsh confrontation that he held especially against the judiciary.

The mobilizations this Saturday take place after Bolsonaro led massive demonstrations in Brasilia and Sao Paulo on September 7, where some 125,000 sympathizers were concentrated.

In cities like Sao Paulo and Brasilia, mobilizations are expected from 5:00 p.m. GMT.