R.and a week before the Brazilian presidential election, in the face of impending defeat, right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro further stepped up his tone, blatantly threatening the country’s Supreme Court.
“You know that every day your freedom is threatened more and more by another state authority that is not the executive,” Bolsonaro said at an election rally in Divinopolis on Friday (local time), alluding to the Supreme Court, as the Brazilian newspaper “Folha de S. Paulo” reported. “And we know that we must put an end to this abuse.”
Threats to democratic institutions
Bolsonaro has repeatedly threatened the Supreme Court and other democratic institutions because the court had made decisions against his supporters and was also investigating Bolsonaro, for example, due to false news. Bolsonaro’s opponent, former Brazilian head of state and left-wing favorite Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had slightly increased his lead in the polls. The percentage of votes Lula can hope for in the first round of voting on October 2 rose to 47 percent from 45 percent the previous week, according to a poll by polling firm Datafolha on Thursday. Bolsonaro would therefore continue to receive about 33 percent of the votes.
Similar to former US President Donald Trump, “Tropical Trump” Bolsonarao is questioning the electoral system and has already announced that he may not recognize defeat. The atmosphere in the largest country in Latin America is warm. At least two Lula supporters have been killed in recent months by suspected Bolsonaro fans.
–
