📅 Good morning! We do not usually issue our daily briefings on public holidays, but it has become a tradition to do so on Independence Day — a date which has been hijacked by President Bolsonaro and used for putschist demonstrations.
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Bolsonaro has Brazil on edge again
Today marks the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s independence from Portugal, but there will be little in terms of national celebration. Instead, Jair Bolsonaro will command rallies in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro. The anti-democratic overtones of these demonstrations are barely hidden under the surface — and political observers fear what the angry mob could do.
Context. Trailing in the polls by double-digit margins, Mr. Bolsonaro has ramped up his already recurring attacks on the Supreme Court, which he portrays as being out to get him, and the voting system, which he claims (without evidence) can be rigged.
- In calling people to today’s events, the president’s supporters have treated today as a “now-or-never moment.”
Why it matters. Today could be a tone-setter for how the far-right...