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RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 25 (AP) Two men were sitting at a bar with drinks to cool off the scorching heat in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state on Nov. 21 when police broke in and allegedly set fire to Trucks and ambulances loaded with Molotov cocktails.
A man attempted to flee and discarded his illegal firearm. Inside their pickup truck, police found cans of gasoline, knives, a pistol, slingshots and hundreds of rocks — along with 9,999 reais (nearly $1,900) in cash.
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A federal judge ordered their preventive detention, citing their apparent motivation for violence as “dissatisfaction with the results of the last presidential election and seeking an undemocratic reversal,” according to court documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
For more than three weeks, supporters of incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro have refused to accept his narrow defeat in October’s elections, blocking roads and mobilizing military forces in Brazil’s soybean-producing powerhouse Mato Grosso state. Camp outside the building. They are also protesting in other states across the country, while pleading for the intervention of the armed forces or marching orders from their commander-in-chief.
Since his electoral defeat, Bolsonaro has addressed the nation only twice, saying the protests are legal and encouraging them to continue as long as they don’t prevent people from moving in and out.
Bolsonaro also did not deny the recent violence. However, he questioned the election results – which the chairman of the electoral authority said appeared to be aimed at fomenting protests.
While most of the demonstrations have been peaceful, hardcore participants have begun taking tactics against the authorities. Mato Grosso state prosecutor José Antônio Borges likened their actions to guerrilla fighters, militias and domestic terrorists.
Mato Grosso state is one of the hotbeds of unrest across the country. The chief targets, Borges says, are soy trucks from Grupo Maggi, owned by a tycoon who declared support for President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. There are also signs that individuals and companies in the state may be fueling protests elsewhere.
Road closures and violence were reported in the states of Rondonia, Pará, Paraná and Santa Catarina. In the latter, the Federal Highway Police said protesters had used “terrorist” methods to block the highway, including homemade bombs, fireworks, nails, rocks and barricades made of burnt tyres.
Police also noted that the weekend roadblocks differed from those put in place immediately after the Oct. 30 runoff, when truck drivers blocked more than 1,000 roads and highways across the country, with only isolated incidents.
The Federal Highway Police said most resistance operations were now taking place at night, by “extremely violent and coordinated groups of masked men” simultaneously in different parts of the state.
“The situation has become very critical,” Mato Grosso state prosecutor Jorge Borges told The Associated Press. Among other examples, he pointed to protesters in Sinop, the state’s second most populous city, this week ordering the closure of shops and businesses in support of the movement. “Anyone who doesn’t shut down will be retaliated against,” he said.
Since the vote, Bolsonaro has faded from public view and his daily agenda has been largely empty, prompting speculation about whether he is sullen or intriguing.
Government transition duties are being led by his chief of staff, while Vice-President Hamilton Mourao has stepped in to officiate the official ceremony. In an interview with O Globo newspaper, Mourão attributed Bolsonaro’s absence to erysipelas, saying a skin infection on his leg prevented the president from wearing trousers.
But even Bolsonaro’s social media accounts have gone silent — aside from general posts about his government, apparently from his communications team. Live social media broadcasts, which take place every Thursday night, have ceased, with rare exceptions, during his administration. The silence marked a sudden turnaround for the bombastic Brazilian leader whose every word his supporters took to heart.
Still, demonstrators who have camped out for weeks outside military camps across Brazil remain convinced they have his tacit support.
“We understand very well why he doesn’t want to speak: they (the news media) twisted his words,” a 49-year-old woman who identified herself as Joelma said at the protest outside the monumental regional military command center. Rio de Janeiro. She declined to give her full name, claiming the protests had been infiltrated by informants.
Jorma and others said they were angry at Bolsonaro’s defeat and claimed the election was rigged, echoing claims made by the sitting president without evidence that electronic voting systems were prone to fraud .
Scenes of large barbecues offering free food and portable bathrooms at several protests, as well as reports of free bus rides that brought demonstrators to the capital Brasilia, have prompted fire against the people and companies that funded and organized the rallies and barricades investigation.
The Supreme Court has frozen at least 43 bank accounts allegedly involved, mostly from Mato Grosso state, news site G1 reported. Borges cited the involvement of agribusiness in the protests, many of which support Bolsonaro’s push to develop the Amazon rainforest, and his authorization of the use of previously banned pesticides. By contrast, President-elect da Silva has pledged to rebuild environmental protections.
Recently, protesters have been emboldened by the president’s decision to formally contest the election results.
On Tuesday, Bolsonaro and his party filed a plea asking election authorities to cancel voting on nearly 60 percent of electronic voting machines, citing software bugs in older models. The independent expert said the error, although newly discovered, would not affect the result, with the head of the electoral authority, Alexandre de Morais, swiftly rejecting the “strange and illegal” request.
De Moras, who is also a Supreme Court justice, called it “an attack on the democratic rule of law … designed to encourage criminal and anti-democratic movements.”
On Nov. 21, Attorney General Augusto Aras called a crisis meeting of federal prosecutors in states with roadblocks and heightened violence. Aras, widely seen as a staunch supporter of Bolsonaro, said he had received an intelligence report from local prosecutors and directed the governor of Mato Grosso state to request federal support to clear its blocked highway.
In the end, it wasn’t necessary because local law enforcement managed to break up the demonstrations, and roads in Mato Grosso and elsewhere were clear by Monday night, according to the Federal Highway Police. Guilherme Casarões, a professor of political science at the Getulio Vargas Foundation University, said it was unclear how long this would last because Bolsonaro had remained silent.
“His silence kept people on the street,” Casaros said. “That’s the huge advantage he has today: a very mobilized, very aggressive base.” (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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