Tens of thousands of Brazilians on Sunday protested against “shameless” lawmakers seeking an amnesty that could benefit former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, while pushing to shield themselves from criminal charges.
Bolsonaro was sentenced earlier this month to 27 years in jail for plotting a coup and within days, the conservative-majority Brazilian Congress had fast-tracked an amnesty bill that could include the far-right leader.
“No amnesty,” crowds roared in dozens of Brazilian cities, holding up signs and wearing stickers reading: “shameless Congress.”
Photo: AP
Protesters were also outraged by what they dubbed the “banditry bill” passed last week. The law would require the Brazilian Congress to vote by secret ballot to give the go-ahead for one its own to be charged or arrested.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrated the protests, writing on Instagram: “I stand with the Brazilian people. Today’s demonstrations show that the population does not want impunity or amnesty.”
Tens of thousands attended a “musical protest” on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach in the sweltering heat.
“This protection they seek is to camouflage corruption, impunity,” said Giovana Araujo, 27, a psychology student at the event.
Renowned octogenarians of Brazilian music, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque, took to a truck-mounted stage alongside palm trees to sing resistance songs from Brazil’s dictatorship era.
Crowds sang along as a blow-up doll of Bolsonaro wearing black-and-white prison stripes bobbed next to one of US President Donald Trump, who has punished Brazil with tariffs in retaliation for the prosecution of his ally.
Veloso, 83, said musicians “could not fail to respond to the horrors that have been creeping in around us.”
The artists “were literally boycotted during the military dictatorship, and seeing them here is synonymous with resistance,” Araujo said, describing their appearance as “revolutionary.”
“Once again, artists are mobilizing the people to demand justice in this country,” said Yasmin Aimee Coelho Pessoa, a 20-year-old sociology student.
In the megalopolis Sao Paulo, protesters unfurled a giant Brazilian flag, in response to a US flag displayed at a pro-Bolsonaro march this month.
The Political Debate Monitor at the University of Sao Paulo estimated crowds of 42,000 in the economic heartland, and a similar figure in Rio de Janeiro — the biggest turnout for the left since Lula was re-elected in 2022.
Lula’s razor-thin victory set off a series of political crises that still reverberate in Brazil today.
Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting to bar Lula from taking office, in a plan that judges said only failed due to a lack of support from military top brass.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS