Pro-Bolsonaro protestors flood São Paulo's main avenue on Independence Day, waving Brazilian and U.S. flags as his coup trial nears conclusion. Image: The Conversation.
(The Post News) -As the country awaited the Supreme Court’s decision about former President Jair Bolsonaro’s trial for a coup attempt, tens of thousands of Brazilians participated in protest marches on Sunday, Independence Day.
The competing rallies underscored the deep political divisions within Brazil. Bolsonaro backers donned green, yellow, and even American flags to protest his prosecution, while left-wing protesters demanded his conviction and rejected foreign interference, particularly by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bolsonaro, aged 70, is accused of scheming to remain in office despite losing the 2022 election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He would face over 40 years of imprisonment if convicted and has already been banned from office until 2030.
Bolsonaro’s Supporters Dominate the Streets
Bolsonaro’s base in São Paulo mobilized in massive numbers to Avenida Paulista. Huge crowds were seen from aerial photographs compared with smaller anti-Bolsonaro demonstrations elsewhere. Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro was packed with his base, who turned the rally into a street carnival as much as a political protest. Barbecued meat, beer, and popcorn were offered by vendors, and Bolsonaro’s sons and supporters delivered inflammatory speeches.
We know that he will be wrongly convicted. Amnesty is our expectation now,” retired police officer Sheila Santos said during the Brasília demonstration, carrying a shirt calling for “Anistia Já” (Amnesty Now). Some of Bolsonaro’s allies publicly praised Trump. Others wore Trump faces and “Magnitsky” printed on T-shirts, referring to Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes being sanctioned by the United States. In São Paulo, a giant American flag was being carried, symbolizing their request for Washington to save them.
“Trump is helping us; he notices what is happening here,” street vendor Davidson Roque exclaimed, wearing the Stars and Stripes. “It’s political persecution.” Across Brazil, left-wing crowds organized their Independence Day parades. Trade unionists, activists, and intellectuals filled city squares with placards showing Bolsonaro behind bars and slogans such as “Defeat Trump” and “Brazil Belongs to Brazilians.”
“It’s absurd that a foreign president thinks he can give orders to us,” said Ana Baldas, a 76-year-old psychoanalyst in downtown Rio. “Bolsonaro must go to jail so we can live our lives.”
The left fears that Congress may give an amnesty statute to Bolsonaro and his allies, such as happened with the generalized amnesty to members of the military dictatorship regime of 1964–1985. That law shielded torturers and political violence practitioners, leaving jagged scars on democracy in Brazil. “We cannot repeat the same error,” Baldas stated. “Bolsonaro’s conviction has to be maintained.”
Trump’s Tariffs and Sanctions Raise Tensions
Bolsonaro’s trial has overflowed far outside Brazil’s borders. Trump denounced the charges as a “witch hunt” and struck back with tariffs of 50% on Brazilian imports. He has also imposed sanctions on Supreme Court justices involved in the case, including Moraes. Trump’s responses escalated at home, where Lula’s administration made them a call to arms for sovereignty.
On Saturday evening’s Independence Day address, televised nationally, Lula delivered a sharp rebuke.
“We are not, and never again will be, anyone’s colony,” he declared. “We don’t take orders from anyone.” At Sunday’s Brasília military parade, which was themed “Sovereign Brazil,” Lula was cheered by his followers. Some excoriated fellow Brazilians accompanying Trump as “traitors.”
“The Trump administration has tried to invade Brazil economically and politically,” declared Helio Barreto, a university professor. “We say, ‘Get your big feet out.'” With Bolsonaro’s culpability now all but taken for granted, the real political battle now is whether to grant amnesty.
São Paulo State Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, a potential right-wing presidential candidate, has been a supporter of amnesty as a way of “pacifying the nation.” Experts comment that he also requires Bolsonaro’s blessing to stand for president in the future. “History has taught us that amnesty and forgiveness have the capacity to cure wounds,” De Freitas said recently.
But Lula has pushed back hard against the suggestion, warning that pardoning Bolsonaro and lawmakers who broke into government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023, would undermine democracy. “It’s a battle that must be fought by the people,” Lula told reporters in a written statement.
A Nation on Edge
Bolsonaro, president from 2019 to 2022, says he is the victim of political persecution. He denies ever plotting a coup but admits that he explored “alternative ways” of remaining in power. His supporters remain fiercely loyal, and his rallies still draw massive crowds. But his future as a lawyer hangs in the balance before five Supreme Court justices, who have to reach a verdict by Friday.
If convicted, Bolsonaro will face over four decades behind bars. But even incarcerated, he will likely remain an influential figure for Brazil’s right-wing movement. For Brazil, Independence Day was both one of national pride and political weakness. The country stands at a crossroads: one path leads to bolstering democratic accountability, and the other perpetuates the previous mistakes of impunity.
As Ana Baldas quoted at Sunday’s protest, “At least my most optimistic hope is that Bolsonaro ends up in prison and things finally calm down.”
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