Thousands of Brazilians gathered this Tuesday against army commandos in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and other cities, calling for an intervention against the electoral victory of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on October 30.

On a national holiday, thousands of Brazilians dressed in the green and yellow colors of the national flag gathered in front of the Eastern Military Command, the main army headquarters in this region, in the city center of Rio de Janeiro.

“We don’t want Lula to take over on January 1stWe don’t want a communist country, we want a better Brazil,” Lais Nunes, 30, told AFP bank during the rally.

Many carried the Brazilian flag and sang the national anthem whenever it was played from a loudspeaker truck.

“There are various reports that there has been fraud in the election (…) we cannot accept that,” said police officer Leandro de Oliveira, 38, who attributes the fraud to an alleged conspiracy by the Electoral Tribunal superior (TSE ) favor the former president (2003-2010), arguments that They have already been denied by various authorities. and international observers.

In the capital, Brasilia (center), thousands of people also gathered in front of the army headquarters, carrying banners with words such as “SOS armed forces” or “audit at the polls”, AFP confirmed.

police cordon

Security was tightened in the central region of Brasilia this Tuesday after the call for protest through social networks.

The police have “preventively” restricted the access of vehicles and pedestrians to the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, where the buildings of the Presidency, the Congress and the Supreme Court are located, according to reports from the Secretariat for Security of the Federal District.

Two weeks ago, thousands of protesters gathered in front of military headquarters in Brasilia and other cities across the country asking for the intervention of the Armed Forces after the runoff, in which Lula narrowly defeated (50.9) the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro % against 49.1%).

Since then many have remained camped in front of the headquarters of the capital, located a few kilometers from its central area, and in front of a barracks in São Paulo, where the local media they also reported demonstrations this Tuesday. There have also been demonstrations in the city of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, southeast).

Fraud allegations

The protesters denounce a “fraud” allegedly perpetrated with the electronic ballot box system, installed in Brazil since 1996, and unfoundedly contested by Bolsonaro.

That possibility, however, was there rejected by many international observers and a report from the Armed Forces themselves.

After the electoral defeat and while the transition that will culminate with Lula’s inauguration in January is advancing, Bolsonaro remains in seclusion and is practically absent from public life, even from social networks, in which he is usually active.

In the first days after the result, supporters of the president organized hundreds of checkpoints in various states of the country as a form of protest.

But it took the president almost 48 hours to address the nation after his defeat, and although he called for the roads to be unblocked, he said the peaceful protests elsewhere ‘welcome’.

Police protection for fear of violence

This Tuesday’s march was scheduled for 3 in the afternoon local time, when a Prayer for Brazil would be held in front of the Army Headquarters, in the western part of the capital, about 7 km from the Plaza de los Tres Powers . But the demonstrators began to gather as early as noon.

Given the risk of violent actions, the accesses to the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, next to the Federal Supreme Court, an area where the overflight of private drones was prohibited.

Military Police agents and vehicles they were stationed at various points in Brasiliain particular on the avenue Explanada de los Ministerios, in the city center, which remains partially blocked.

Prayer will also be held in the field set up in front of the Southeast Military Command in São Paulo, and in other military headquarters in Rio de Janeiro and in various states.

Source: AFP

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