Good morning! This week, we talk about how supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro still haven’t accepted the electoral defeat. China’s overseas police stations in Brazil. Brazilians are drowning in debt.
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Bolsonaro hasn’t given up
Pro-Bolsonaro groups have called for a lockout to take place today, a possible continuation of last week’s anti-democratic protests asking the military to stage a coup. Supporters of the president have spread calls for a “general strike” of businesses, urging companies to close as part of a “struggle against the implementation of communism in Brazil.”
Why it matters. Despite being in seclusion since he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on October 30, Jair Bolsonaro hasn’t fully given up on the idea of overthrowing the election. Today, he is expected to receive the results of a voting machine audit carried out by the Armed Forces.
Context. Last month, military officers decided to conduct checks of vote machine printouts as a way to unofficially audit the voting system. “Unofficial,” because the Army has absolutely no constitutional...