Bolsonaro supporters turn to Brazilian army to keep him in power
Bolsonaro supporters were seen raising Nazi salutes in the southern state of Santa Catarina on Wednesday.
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Jair Bolsonaro
Thousands of Jair Bolsonaro supporters urged the Brazilian military to intervene and keep the right-wing president in power after he lost re-election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday.
After days of silence, Bolsonaro delivered a brief address on Tuesday in which he neither admitted loss nor congratulated Lula on his weekend victory, though his chief of staff later took the podium to announce that the President had sanctioned the transfer to a new government.
Since then, his followers have gathered in front of military facilities in key Brazilian cities to demand action.
Protesters were seen raising Nazi salutes in the southern state of Santa Catarina on Wednesday. They have also maintained roadblocks across the country for the third day in a row, albeit the number fell from 271 on Tuesday to 167 on Wednesday, as per local police.
Remember when Bolsonaro went to Israel and tried to say the Nazi movement was leftist, apparently his supporters didn’t get the memo…This was today in the southern state of Santa Catarina
— Nathália Urban (@UrbanNathalia) November 2, 2022
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Truckers in Brazil are now blocking highways in protest of the election results. Bolsonaro has yet to concede and this could potentially get ugly.
— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@JoshuaPHilll) November 1, 2022
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The blockades have wreaked havoc throughout the country. According to the airport's press office, the protests forced the cancellation of 48 flights.
The National Confederation of Industry warned on Tuesday that fuel shortages were likely if blocked highways were not cleared promptly.
Bolsonaro's remarks Tuesday ended his two-day silence on the election results, which had fueled speculation that he would reject the verdict.
The far-right incumbent did not mention Lula's name in his statement, which lasted just over two minutes, but vowed to follow the constitution.
Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, will be sworn in for a third time on January 1.
