Jair Bolsonaro’s government sent a letter to the UN, complaining about the way the party was questioning its behavior in the October presidential election. This behavior is typical of authoritarian regimes that do not tolerate any comment, criticism or appeal from international organizations such as Venezuela, China or Cuba.
The confidential letter was sent to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights after UN Division Head Michelle Bachelet criticized Bolsonaro’s attacks on the judiciary, ballot boxes and democracy.
When contacted, Itamaraty did not provide an official response to the information received that the protest letter had been sent. Neither did the Brazilian mission in Geneva, and neither did the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
However, the report received two confirmations from senior Itamaraty officials that the protest was actually sent. A third government source also revealed that the letter referred to the fact that the protest took place because of the way Chile responded to Brazilian journalists.
At a news conference to bid farewell to her position last Thursday, Bachelet did not hold back her criticisms of Bolsonaro’s government, both for its human rights violations and its threat to the electoral system.
“I think there are very difficult human rights situations in Brazil right now. Not just now. But I am seriously interested in reports of the rise in political violence, the perpetuation of structural racism and the shrinking of civil space,” he said. Chile.
According to him, the UN will closely monitor the effects on human rights and fundamental freedoms during and after the election process. His concern, in particular, is hate speech and attacks on candidates and MPs, particularly minorities.
“Attacks against parliamentarians and candidates, particularly Afro-Brazilians, LGBTI and women, are worrying,” he said. He recalled how a UN rapporteur’s recent visit to Brazil highlighted such threats and how such a scenario would be an obstacle to democracy and civic participation.
However, Bachelet spent long minutes in harsh criticism against the Brazilian president. “Bolsonaro intensified his attacks on the judiciary and the electronic voting system, including his meetings with (foreign) ambassadors in July, and this sparked a strong backlash.”
Even more worrying is that he called on his supporters to demonstrate against the judiciary on September 7. According to him, this led the opposition to postpone the demonstration, which was scheduled for the same day, to avoid violence.
“I must say that a head of state who is a head of state should respect other powers, respect the Judiciary, the Legislature. He should not attack others. It is essential for the President to ensure democracy.” He insisted. “And democracy requires respect for other powers,” he said.
“[Atacar outros Poderes] Especially being in the middle of the election is really not a good decision,” he said.
Bachelet acknowledges that there are occasions when a president may disagree with the decisions of other branches, but they must be respected. “You cannot do things that increase violence and hatred against democratic institutions and that need to be respected and strengthened. You cannot do things that are not weakened by strong political rhetoric,” the Chilean official said.
He also cited the murder of a PT member in Foz do Iguaçu. “In July, a Bolsonaro supporter killed a Lula supporter. It’s not because there are thousands of cases. But these cases shouldn’t happen. And when a leader uses language that can be misused, it can be very bad. It’s very,” he added.
The next day, in an exclusive interview with UOL, he said, “It is very serious that a head of state, with a violent speech, incites his supporters to demonstrate against the judiciary, against the electoral system.”
“Brazil is generally a country that has shown itself to be a country with respectful, clean and transparent elections. It has never been fundamentally questioned for that. Such criticism is not justified. But doing so is not good for democracy. It can increase violence as we have seen elsewhere in the world,” he said.
Bolsonaro praises Pinochet for attacking Bachelet
Bachelet has a history of complaints against the Bolsonaro government. He also criticized police violence in Brazil in 2019, which led the president to oppose Chile and praised Augusto Pinochet. The Chilean general was responsible for the death of Bachelet’s father, which forced him to leave Chile as a political exile.
Bolsonaro’s comments caused a deep stir in regional diplomacy and led even the Chilean right to criticize the Brazilian and show support for the former Chilean president.
More recently, he issued a warning about his office’s concerns about violence during elections. He also called for a “non-interference” election. Bachelet’s comments angered Bolsonaro’s government, which sought to thwart any international questioning of the president.
In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, Itamaraty criticized his comments and warned that the country would not accept outside interference.
source: Noticias
