The Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, who will be replaced in power by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, He left for the United States this Friday, shortly following addressing his followers and calling for harsh opposition to the next government.
Before traveling to Orlando on a presidential plane, the far-right leader broke the almost absolute silence he had maintained since last October’s elections, but made no allusion to his intention to leave the country before the inauguration of the President elect.
That way, Bolsonaro will not comply with the institutional tradition of the transfer of the presidential sash, a symbolic gesture that has been respected by all the presidents since Brazil regained democracy in 1985, following 21 years of dictatorship.
Official sources confirmed to EFE that the vice president, Hamilton Mourao, was in charge of the government, as is usual when the president travels abroad.
Neither Bolsonaro nor the government have given any details regarding the trip, but according to sources from his personal environment cited by the local press, his intention is to spend at least three months outside the country.
Before leaving, he urged his followers to stand firm once morest Lula in a live broadcast on his social networks, broadcast in his last moments at the official residence of the Presidency.
“We are not going to believe that the world ends this January 1” with the inauguration of Lula, he declared Bolsonaro sobbing, and asked those who support him “not to throw in the towel or stop making opposition”although peacefully and within the constitutional framework.
The pronouncement lasted just over an hour and Bolsonaro did not finish acknowledging his defeat in the elections or congratulate Lula.
On the contrary, he insisted that he was a “victim” of electoral justice “that was not impartial” and that, in his opinion, favored the progressive leader with various decisions.
He reiterated that his “freedom” and that of the far-right groups that support him were “cut off” and they were “prevented” from denouncing the failures that, according to what he insists without any proof, the electronic voting system that has been used in Brazil since 1996 has. .
Without citing Lula by name, he predicted that “the new government that comes there is going to create many problems” and he is going to “impose a disastrous ideology on the country that did not work anywhere in the world.”
He also justified the demonstrations held by far-right activists at the gates of the barracks, where they demand a military coup to prevent Lula’s investiture and keep him in power.
In his opinion, they are a “reaction” to an electoral process that “did not have all the transparency”, which led “a mass of people to take to the streets and protest.”
He stressed that he did not call these mobilizations, but insisted that it is “a peaceful, orderly protest that respects the laws” and constitutes “a spontaneous demonstration of the people.”
He distanced himself, however, from some violent actions that have been attributed to some of these protesting groups, among which is the planting of a bomb in a tanker truck that was heading to the Brasilia airport and which was deactivated in time by the Policeman.
“We do not want a worse Brazil”, but “we have to respect our law and the Constitution”, affirmed Bolsonaro, who maintained that “from now on any demonstration ( once morest Lula’s government) is welcome”.
According to the far-right leader, his motto “God, Homeland, Family and Liberty will not be lost” and should now be the guide “of all patriots” who want “the return of a country with order and progress ”.
