The protesters rejected a bill that seeks to grant amnesty to those who participated in the attack on the Plaza de los Tres Poderes in Brasilia, on January 8, 2023. Photo: Brasil de Fato
Brasilia, March 31 (RHC)-- Thousands of people mobilized this Sunday in Brazilian cities to march against calls for amnesty for former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023) and others implicated in an attempted coup to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
On Paulista Avenue, São Paulo, protesters gathered in front of the former Department of Information Operations-Center for Internal Defense Operations (DOI-CODI), which housed Brazil's intelligence and political repression agency during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship.
According to local media, the protest surpassed those previously called by Bolsonaro. The mobilization against the coup was led by the People Without Fear and Popular Brazil fronts, which bring together various organizations, unions, parties, and popular movements, including the Workers' Party (PT), the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST), and the National Union of Students (UNE).
In Brasília, protesters rejected the amnesty on Eixão, the city's main street. During the demonstration, they exchanged words with passersby to encourage more people to reject an amnesty proposal favoring Bolsonaro supporters and, through popular pressure, prevent it from advancing in the Chamber of Deputies.
The protests were not unrelated to the condemnation of the 1964 military coup, whose 61st anniversary will be next Tuesday. This was the case in the city of São Luís, in the northeastern state of Maranhão, where grassroots movements, unions, and other groups held a public fair.
A few days ago, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) accepted a criminal complaint from the Attorney General's Office (PGR) against Bolsonaro and seven former members of his Cabinet for attempted coup d'état.
At the same time, Bolsonaristas are trying to push through an urgent request for a bill that would pardon anyone who participated in popular events starting on October 30, 2022, the date of the elections in which Lula defeated Bolsonaro with 51 percent of the vote.
