BRAZIL
Setting the Stage
Thousands of protesters supporting populist President Jair Bolsonaro marched in multiple Brazilian cities during the country’s independence day Tuesday in a series of rallies that have raised fears about a potential coup in Latin America’s biggest democracy, the Guardian reported.
Footage showed Bolsonaro’s supporters clashing with police in the capital, Brasilia, as authorities tried to prevent demonstrators from storming Brazil’s congress.
Local media reported some of the protesters also vowed to storm the Supreme Court, while others were calling for Bolsonaro to use the country’s military to launch a coup.
The Independence Day protests come as the embattled president’s approval ratings continue to plummet due to corruption scandals involving his allies and relatives, and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 580,000 people. Brazil ranks second in the world after the US in the total number of deaths from the virus.
Bolsonaro called for the rallies amid an ongoing row with two Supreme Court justices, who have launched probes into the president for posting confidential material on social media to discredit next year’s elections as fraudulent, Newsweek reported.
Critics say the far-right leader is trying to gather enough supporters to intimidate or overthrow judges.
On Monday, more than 150 political figures on the left published an open letter warning that Tuesday’s rallies were a danger to Brazil’s democracy.
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