Jair Bolsonaro breaks his silence after Brazil’s electoral defeat: ‘It hurts the soul’

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, reappeared later a month of silence praise the Armed Forces and ask their followers to unite against the future government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, praising “patriotism” and God.

“Today we are experiencing a crucial moment, a crossroads. You are the one who decides my future, you are the one who decides where the Armed Forces go, you are the one who decides where the Chamber and the Senate go ”, Bolsonaro said this Friday in front of hundreds of supporters in front of the official residence in Brasilia.

The president, who will leave power on January 1 after losing the October elections, did not congratulate Lula on this occasion, nor did he openly acknowledge his defeat at the polls.

Lula, who will return to the presidency for the third time, after having held that office for two terms, from 2003 to 2010, won the October 30 runoff by a small margin, with 50.9% of the votes against 49.1% %.

Bolsonaro took responsibility for “mistakes” who did not specify and asked his supporters not to criticize him “without knowing everything that is happening”.

“It is not easy to deal with the whole system. The mission is not to criticize, it is to unite and many times there is information that is not appropriate,” he said.

The president admitted that the defeat in the presidential elections, in which he was asking for re-election for another four years, “hurts”.

“I’ve spent practically 40 days in silence. It hurts, it hurts in my soul. I’ve always been a happy person among you, even risking my life among the people,” said the far-right president.

“Some talk about my silence. A few weeks ago, if I went out and said ‘good morning’, everything would be distorted, distorted,” Bolsonaro justified.

Praise the Armed Forces

Even the retired army captain took the opportunity to enhance the role of the Armed Forces, “the last obstacle to socialism” and the “great people responsible for freedom,” he said.

“Brazil doesn’t need more laws, it needs laws to actually be respected,” he said to applause from his followers, who begged him to “stay” in the presidency.

At the same time, he said he was on the “side of truth, honesty, respect for the family and freedom of expression and religion”, praising “God” and the “divine”.

He lamented that “Brazil was ready to make a leap” but that “no one expected” Lula’s victory “under normal conditions” and celebrated that thousands of his followers took to the streets in the days following the elections to demand his stay.

Many of these protests took place outside the army barracks and called for a military “intervention” against Lula, leader of the Workers’ Party (PT).

“Nothing is lost. I owe you allegiance. I give my life for my country (…) We can change the future of our nation,” said Bolsonaro, who wore without speaking in public since November 2ndthree days after the second round of elections.

“We will believe, we will unite, we will look for alternatives and everyone will see what he can do for our homeland,” he said.

“I believe in you, we will believe in our country. God willing, everything will go well at the right time,” he said.

Bolsonaro’s public reappearance coincided with the announcement of some of the five ministers who will be part of Lula’s cabinet: Finance, Casa Civile (head of cabinet), Justice and Public Security, Defense and Foreign Relations.

Source: AFP and EFE

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