Insider

Councilwoman impeached for criticizing Nazi gesture

NAZI GESTURE
Councilwoman Maria Tereza Capra. Photo: São Miguel do Oeste Assembly

A left-wing councilwoman in the small southern city of São Miguel do Oeste was impeached on Saturday by her peers after she denounced demonstrations in favor of former President Jair Bolsonaro as making an apology for Nazism.

On November 2, 2022, a few days after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Mr. Bolsonaro in the presidential election, a few hundred putschist demonstrators gathered in front of Army barracks in the city. At one point, they raised their right arms in a gesture very similar to the Nazi salute.

The demonstration was at the time repudiated by both the German and Israeli embassies in Brazil. German Ambassador Heiko Thoms wrote that the gesture was “an attack on democracy and the rule of law in Brazil.”

The Israeli Embassy said at the time that it was “concerned about this phenomenon [in Brazil]” and that it was “counting on the competent authorities to take the necessary measures to put an end to this type of outrageous acts.”

On the same day of the demonstration, Councilwoman Maria Tereza Capra of the Workers’ Party wrote that a “fascist movement” had begun after Mr. Bolsonaro’s defeat. She also repudiated the “pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators that make an apology for Nazism,” but without citing names or directly saying that such demonstrations had happened in her city.

By a 10-1 vote, city lawmakers impeached Ms. Capra for “propagating fake news” and what they argued was falsely attributing the crime of giving a Nazi salute to the citizens of São Miguel do Oeste.

Councilwoman Capra’s lawyer, Sérgio Graziano, told lawmakers during the impeachment proceedings he is sure that the people at the demonstration did not intend to give a Nazi salute, but that some gestures should be avoided for having become symbols for white supremacists. The defense did not move Ms. Capra’s peers: she cast the sole vote in her favor.

Congresswoman Gleisi Hoffmann, the Workers’ Party national chair, said the party will appeal the decision — which she called “political persecution” — in court.

A report by the Jewish Human Rights Observatory in Brazil showed that the number of Neonazi demonstrations in the country grew steadily during the Bolsonaro administration.

São Miguel do Oeste has a population of around 41,000 and is located in the state of Santa Catarina. In last year’s runoff, 65 percent of the city’s voters picked Jair Bolsonaro.