By Oscar Rotundo *
Bolsonaro’s defeat caused various actions, many of them violent, which clearly showed that the fascist sectors were not going to allow governability. They advanced their claims of fraud and military intervention with blockades of roads and camps that, over the course of the days, multiplied in cities across the country.
Since January 1, the day Lula was inaugurated in his third term, the Bolsonaro right wing witnessed a government effort that was not limited to campaign speeches. A few hours after assuming the presidency, Lula raised the number of ministries to 37 and signed a battery of decrees that clearly showed the path of this new Brazil. In essence, Lula’s Brazil would have nothing to do with the proposal by his opponent and predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
One of the first measures taken by Lula was to suspend the registration of new weapons for civilians and cancel the authorization to open new shooting clubs until new regulation. He also reduced from six to three the number of weapons that a civilian can have in his home.
In addition, Lula signed a decree that extended the federal tax exemption for fuels to 60 days, reestablished the operation of the Amazon Fund, repealed a measure on illegal mining and published a decree in relation to combating deforestation in all environments.
On the other hand, Lula made possible the payment of R$600 from the Brazil Help fund, the Brazilian government’s social welfare program that will return to the name Bolsa Família (family purse), reaffirming his commitment to “respond to the hopes of a suffering people.”
With Bolsonaro away in the United States, fleeing from his responsibilities on the one side and the popular government putting in place firm decisions from the day one on the other, the reactionary right accelerated its agenda of overthrowing, displaying the irrationality that assists it in its political conception.
The assault and vandalization of the building of the National Congress – in order to demand a military intervention by parts of followers of the defeated Jair Bolsonaro, clearly show that without firm government action to dismantle the coup framework of the right, democracy and the popular project will continue endangered.
The images are eloquent and given the events that are currently shaking the region, they serve to reflect seriously on the scope of this right that has been acting worldwide on the will of the people.
In view of the events, different governments repudiated the facts, including Argentina, Spain, Venezuela, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, France, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba and the United States, among others.
* Journalist and editor at PIA Global. This article first appeared in spanish here.