Election results: Brazil begins transition of power from Bolsonaro government to Lula’s team | International

The transition officially begins in Brazil, far from the waning noise Bolsonerist opposition to election defeat of their leader. A delegation of incoming president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with two ministers from the failed Jair Bolsonaro government this Thursday in Brasilia. with a narrow margin Closest election in Brazilian history. “It was a very productive conversation. Very objective,” declared Vice President-elect Geraldo Alcmin, who Lula has appointed as coordinator of the team for the transition of powers, after the meeting at Planaldo Palace. Representatives of the Workers’ Party (PT) returned to the seat of government for the first time since Dilma Rousseff’s ouster in 2016.

One of the ministers, Reserve General Luis Eduardo Ramos, congratulated the victory after nearly 48 hours of silence, unlike his boss. He avoided verbally admitting his defeat and congratulated the winner, but at the same time authorized his cabinet to begin the transition. The far-right has taken a tightrope walk to please his radical supporters, the driving force behind the movement he leads, and to abide by the law.

Protests by the Bolsonaros, who believed there was a fraud, have gradually subsided after the president asked them to remove the roadblocks on Wednesday night because they “harm the right of movement” of citizens and the economy. Immediately, he endorsed protests calling for military intervention to stop the leftist Lula. Lead a broad coalition, take power by saying, “Other protests, demonstrations across Brazil are welcome, they are part of the democratic game.” The President wants to note that they remain calm and ignore their subversive nature.

A few hundred people gathered again this Thursday in an atmosphere of pilgrimage in front of the military headquarters in São Paulo. A much smaller holiday than the previous day, when there were similar concentrations in many capitals. The national anthem is played over loudspeakers, a banner with the words “SOS Armed Forces” is held. We need your help”, and a group prays Our father Near a young man holding a cross. Most of those present have gray hair.

Meanwhile, with the help of big tech companies, groups on social networks are calling and coordinating mobilizations, rushing to close the High Election Court. The court’s president, Alexandre de Moraes, said on Thursday that “those contesting the elections will be held guilty of anti-democratic acts”.

Dental student Joyce Tamares, 24, wearing a Brazilian flag as a cape, insists that “protesting is not a crime” and warns: “Unfortunately, if Lula comes to power, there Accusation, like Dilma (Roussef, fired in 2016)”. He explains that he is mobilizing because he believes fraud has taken place since Lula’s existence Empowered to contest elections.

Eduardo Heleno, an expert in strategic studies and security, said demonstrations in front of camps like the one across the country on Wednesday are nothing new. Bolsonaro had already held protests in Rio de Janeiro in the 1990s for soldiers’ wives to demand decent pay.

This is how this expert explains the signals emanating from the armed forces and military police since Brazilians voted and decided on January 1 that Lula would seek a third term in office. “We are getting silence from the highest leaders of the armed forces, which means respecting the institutions and the election result rather than supporting Bolsonaro. Vice President General (Hamilton) Moro’s attempt to initiate a transition with Geraldo Alcmin has further isolated Bolsonaro. The colonels of the military police are important in reducing the blockades (of highways),” he said. describes.

Among soldiers, the joke is different: “There is declared support for protests at lower levels, most visible in the police, but in the armed forces, that is worrying in the short, medium and long term.”

Heleno explains that calls for military intervention are based on a misinterpretation of Article 142 of the Constitution. Fake news, infiltrated the ranks of Bolsonaroism long ago. And it points to a serious consequence: “A generation of middle managers (of the armed forces) who understand that the political left is an enemy, a political force that needs to be contained by the military with popular support, has suffered from this Manichean manipulation. .”

Proof of the intent of the disinformation, the military has tripled its followers on Instagram (from two to six million) since Monday, as it has been disseminated through networks, and if they reach 20 million, they will intervene.

Organizers of the protests, who remain anonymous, want to keep up the pressure at least until Sunday. Emerson Silva, a 49-year-old lawyer, arrives at the gates of the military headquarters in São Paulo on a motorcycle straight from work. He was there on Wednesday and will be back on Friday, and hasn’t ruled out pitching a tent over the weekend. It argues that electronic ballot elections violate constitutional principles such as transparency. For most of Silva’s and Bolsonaro’s followers, the source of the fraud is the crowds gathered throughout the far-right candidate’s campaign, unlike the leftist Lula’s rallies, which they say are always undercrowded.

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