The Brazilian government guaranteed safe elections following a series of violent incidents that have tarnished the presidential campaign.
The Brazilian Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, stated this Saturday that the presidential, legislative and regional elections on Sunday will be totally safe, following some violent incidents that occurred in the framework of the most polarized dispute in the history of Brazil.
“On Sunday we will have safe elections. We will guarantee security so that the Brazilian people can exercise their right to vote freely and move calmly through the streets, ”said Torres at a press conference in which he announced the police and military mobilization planned for the elections.
“We are not heading for a war. We are heading for elections,” added the head of the Ministry of Justice, who will be in charge of coordinating the entire security plan during the elections with the cooperation of the regional police forces.
According to Torres, on Sunday they will be mobilized around 500,000 police and security agents throughout the country to guarantee the right to vote.
The plan will be reinforced by sending Army troops to 568 of the country’s 5,570 municipalities, mostly in the Amazon region and in cities with high rates of violence such as Rio de Janeiro, which requested the support of the Armed Forces to guarantee safety.
The Government guaranteed security following requests made in recent days by organizations for the defense of human rights, such as Human Rigths Watch, so that the authorities guarantee the right of Brazilians to go to the polls in peace.
The strong polarization in the presidential elections, in which the favorite is the progressive leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro he is seeking re-election, has generated a radicalization of some sectors and caused the death of at least three people.
The situation forced the electoral authorities to ban the carrying of weapons two days before the elections and the day following the elections.
Security was also addressed today by the president of the Superior Electoral Court, magistrate Alexandre de Moraes, who called on the 156.4 million Brazilian voters to go to the polls in “peace, security and harmony.”
One of the main fears is that incidents will occur in the event that Bolsonaro does not accept an eventual defeat once morest Lula, who leads all voting intention polls and, according to the latest polls, may obtain more than 50% of the votes on Sunday. valid votes, which would guarantee the election without the need for a second round.
