At the height of the pandemic, far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was Brazil’s Covid denier-in-chief. He played down the seriousness of the disease, he encouraged major public gatherings during times of social distancing, and he criticized those who isolated at home.
As the health crisis subsided, Mr. Bolsonaro was critical of who he labeled the “stay at home brigade,” claiming that the economic effects of social isolation was somehow worse than the more than 700,000 Covid deaths in Brazil.
Now, without a hint of irony, Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters are forming their own “stay at home brigade,” but for very different reasons.
This Thursday is September 7, Brazil’s Independence Day, celebrating the anniversary of the country gaining its freedom from Portuguese rule in 1822.
For years, the most important thing about the date was the fact that it was a day off work, and the official celebrations were muted military affairs in the capital, with small parades and pageantry.
But the far-right has changed the meaning of the holiday, making it a major day in the political calendar.
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This episode used music from Uppbeat. License code: Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S).
In this episode:
- Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others.
Background reading:
- Bolsonaro supporters have launched an unironic #stayathome campaign to boycott this September 7, when Brazil celebrates its Independence Day.
- As we described in our daily newsletter on 2021’s Independence Day, threats of an insurrection were perhaps at their highest point during the Bolsonaro government — that is, until January 8 this year.
- For last year’s independence bicentennial, we produced a podcast mini-series telling the full — and often overlooked — story of Brazil’s independence from Portugal. Listen to the first episode here.
- But the significance of the bicentennial was largely lost on Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters, who were far more focused on their own putschist discourse.
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