By Guilherme Boulos
Bolsonaro, after a “sabbatical interval” through which he stopped speaking about digital voting machines, returned to threaten the integrity of the electoral course of. In the previous couple of weeks, he attacked the Electoral Court docket (TSE) once more, spoke once more in regards to the “secret room”, and demanded army personnel within the investigation course of…
As October approaches and he stays properly behind Lula within the polls, Bolsonaro switches to desperation mode. He assaults establishments and threatens a coup.
Visibly, he makes use of the coup rhetoric as a smokescreen, a distraction maneuver to keep away from discussing the problems that actually matter to nearly all of the Brazilian folks: inflation, unemployment, falling incomes. Nevertheless it’s not simply that.
It can’t be ignored that, if Bolsonaro might, if it have been solely in his arms, he would have already carried out an auto-coup. Simply have a look at the seventh of September of final 12 months. Bolsonarism has an authoritarian DNA, inheritor to Silvio Frota and the army of the so-called onerous line.
However the Brazil of in the present day isn’t the identical because it was in 1964. Neither is the worldwide state of affairs. Right this moment, a coup would have hardly any exterior assist. Extra possible, it will generate a collection of sanctions and the isolation of Brazil. Very completely different from 64, the place the US supported the coup from begin to end.
Right this moment it is vitally unlikely to think about a state of affairs through which the command of the lively Armed Forces would embark on a coup journey for Bolsonarismo. It hasn’t obtained onboard till now, regardless of makes an attempt.
That there’s now apparently no danger of a standard coup, with tanks on the streets, it doesn’t imply that Bolsonaro won’t act, as he’s already appearing, to disrupt the electoral course of, and create a coup setting.
He’ll do his greatest to mobilize his political militias and his followers within the army police. This isn’t sufficient to hold out a coup and switch the tables, however it’s able to creating turmoil within the nation, as Donald Trump did with the Capitol Hill episode.
In abstract: It is rather unlikely that we’ll have a standard army coup. However additionally it is not possible that we will think about Bolsonaro shedding the elections and accepting defeat. You’ll have to defeat him on the polls and on the streets.
We’re not in a traditional electoral course of. Our function won’t solely be on October 2nd. This election would require engagement and mobilization from all of us. We have now 5 months to dispute the conscience of society, elect Lula and defeat the Bolsonarista menace. Rise above them.
Guilherme Boulos is a housing activist, former presidential and now congressional candidate for PSOL.
(Translated and tailored from content material on Guilherme Boulos’ social media accounts)
[qpp]
