“I traveled 20 hours to see Lula take office,” says a supporter of the president-elect. “I’m 36!” Another shouts. Whoever arrives at Brasilia’s interstate bus station, from all over the country, from north to south, from southeast to northeast, disembarks happily. Only the number of hours and the amount of sacrifices – the most popular term “perrengues” – should be a matter of dispute.
“Three years ago that guy was in prison and now he’s going to climb the ramp and I can’t take it,” Flavia Nazare de Souza, from Para state, 29 hours from Brazil’s federal capital, tells DN, with her friends supporting her in the fake fall, Roseanne and Fathima’s hypnosis induces a kind of hypnosis.
“There were 580 days of seeing the only man who did something true to the Brazilian people, unjustly imprisoned in Curitiba, and then four years of Bolsonaro in power, this…”, continues Uilian López from Salvador. His wife Tina’s hands were over his mouth as he prepared to mercilessly insult the outgoing president.
Tina, Uilian, Flavia, Roseanne and Fatima Some 300,000 of Lula’s supporters are expected to celebrate Brazil’s new president at the Esplanada dos Ministérios this Sunday, doubling the crowd that hailed Jair Bolsonaro four years ago. Your property.
The so-called “perrengues” to reach the capital included sleepless nights crammed into the bus and thousands of reais saved up in raffles and crowds in the respective cities to buy tickets and cover other expenses. Bahian Edson, “King Pele’s namesake”, he is keen to underline, says he sold a pig so Lula could be in front of Planaldo in time for his third term as president.
New Year’s Eve is in the background – in the report of the UOL portal, the Lulistes showed a turkey in their suitcase, a typical meal of the time – and taking into account the news of possible attacks carried out by Bolsonaros like Jorge. Washington Oliveira was detained on terrorism charges after planting a bomb in a fuel truck as a last resort. “No one is going to take away that moment of happiness,” Bruna, from Dogantes state, told DN.
“We need paper voting”
To the north, at another point in the city, 12 km away, the wind is high at a camp where Bolsonaro supporters gather – the aforementioned George Washington Oliveira camped there until a week ago – in front of the headquarters of Brasilia’s army.
“But no one is going to carry out terrorist attacks here, not only here, but there are superiors on both sides,” said Leandro Flavio, who is in the camp for the fourth time this month after completing the 1100km route that separates his town of Tres Pontas. , in Minas Gerais, the capital of Brazil.
Not all “Patriots,” as they call themselves, approach the press like Leandro Flavio. A soldier, monitoring the site, warns TN that television cameras, microphones and recorders had already been destroyed by the campers on the same day.
At the camp, which is being cut off bit by bit by soldiers, slogans such as “Federal intervention with Bolsonaro in power” are scattered for the international press to see.
And the platforms, most of the time occupied by evangelical preachers – “It was Moses who freed the people of Israel from slavery”, a cry, when DN approaches, by Uber, the place. The car driver wanted to leave early – “Man, I’m in the red [a cor do PT]Better leave you here already”.
Other drivers are more challenging, such as yelling “Go to work, you bums” and then fleeing, laughing despite being insulted by campers, or another giving the middle finger to Bolsoneristas to slow the car down and quickly speed up.
“We are not terrorists, we are not bombers, we are not provocateurs, they are, as you have just seen, on the contrary, we are those who act according to the constitution”, continues Leandro Flavio. “What we want is for the elections to be repeated and with paper voting, as it is in Portugal, as it is in the United States, because only here the electronic ballot box is different”. Constantly tested, the electronic voting system, however, showed no flaws and proved to be more practical, faster and reliable than the written one.
“Also: Lula, because he has a bad record, by law he shouldn’t even have been a candidate. In fact, I don’t even know how you in the press choose their side. In Venezuela, Lula loves , there is no freedom of the press”, concludes Leandro, already very Nervous, while his friend Volmer Paiva, from Tres Pontas, accesses the reporter’s social networks and the TN website, demanding to “see if the newspaper is communist”. or trustworthy”.
Moments earlier, Vollmer and the other Bolsonarians suffered a major backlash: Live on their social networks, the first of weeks, Bolsonaro betrayed the militancy of the camp by striking a resigned and farewell tone before flying to the United States. public money), the country in which he is present at least during the week following the inauguration of the successor.
Newspaper reporters Folha D S. Paulo And Metropolises Mixed reactions from “patriots” were recorded during the speech: forced crying by some, insults such as “weak runway” and “dog ass”. In between, there were those who proposed to walk around the camp seven times and finish with our father for good luck. Some knelt down and sang the national anthem.
“I don’t care what Bolsonaro says,” Wallmer surprises Paiva when asked about the president’s words. “I believe in military action”. When it was time to leave, TN approached a lady and prayed the green and yellow rosary – “Goodbye Patriot”, and she said goodbye.
Who is crossing the road?
When Bolsonaro flies to the United States — the destination will be Miami, perhaps Orlando, and eventually Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s resort in Florida — the traditional ceremony of passing the green and yellow belt, detailed with 18-carat gold and 21 wise men, from the outgoing president to the president-elect will not take place.
The decoration was established in 1910 by decree of President Hermes da Fonseca, who demanded a symbol to express presidential power, but Brazil has a political history marked by coups, resignations and impeachments, not always centuries old. The tradition of crossing paths is checked.
Already during the re-democratization, in 1985, the sash was not received as a result of the death of Tancredo Neves before the inauguration of the president-elect. Elected Vice President José Sarni took his place, but without then-President João Bautista de Figueiredo, who refused to transfer power to Alvorada’s new tenant and propped him up. “I didn’t hand over the presidential mantle to that bastard, he didn’t accept the presidency,” Figueiredo said.
Upon re-election, Fernando Henrique Cardoso assumed the title of Master of Ceremonies. Lula, for the second time, appeared at Planaldo Arch already with a sari over her chest.
In addition to the absent Bolsonaro, outgoing Vice President Hamilton Mourao has said he cannot effect change. Rodrigo Pacheco, president of the Senate, announced that he would be available.
The PT has kept this detail of the inauguration secret: party leader Gleisi Hoffmann said on Friday that “it will be a surprise”. Activists have already called for the honor to belong to Dilma Rousseff, the target of the 2016 impeachment, for elevating her vice president, Michel Temer, to power without a popular vote. However, this work will be done by children or by representatives of Brazilian diversity such as indigenous and black people.
Rolls Royce or Armour?
Another suspect is the convertible Rolls Royce purchased for the inauguration of President Quetúlio Vargas in 1952, or an armored car used for the ceremony, considered the most dangerous in Brazilian history. The security team recommends armor, Lula wants a Rolls Royce. A second option prevailed, with an actor in Lula’s place at the inauguration rehearsal, but a decision will be made closer to parade time.
Future First Lady Janja Silva, head of the inauguration organization, orchestrated the existence of a dog named Resistencia, adopted during Lula’s imprisonment at Planaldo Square in Curitiba. He was imprisoned for 580 days.
The concerts are scheduled from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm Lisbon time, interrupted for the official ceremony, but returning at 9:30 pm, with 57 artists divided into Cal Costa and Elsa Soares stages. A tribute to two divas who died in 2022.
Marcelo and 18 other heads of state
Lula’s inauguration saw 19 heads of state pledge, seven more than Jair Bolsonaro’s inauguration four years ago, a new record in the event’s history, said Fernando Igreja, ambassador for the event’s organizers. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be one of them.
In total, 120 countries will be represented. The European Union, the United Nations, the United States, China, Russia and Ukraine will send vice-presidents, prime ministers or heads of legislative branches to Brasilia. Under Bolsonaro’s order, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro will be the only South American head of state absent as he is banned from entering the country. The order was revoked on the 30th, but Maduro will not travel anyway.
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