Taking a stand in favor of democracy and against any movement that tries to throw the country into a dictatorship was the purpose that led thousands of people to wake up early and face even rain to show, in Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília, that Brazil is, and if everything goes well, it will continue to be a free country.
Pedro Rodrigues, advisor to the DF Chamber – Jose Cruz/Agência Brasil
“I came here to reaffirm democracy, after that attempt on January 8, 2023 to carry out a coup d’état that was planned against our country. I came to make it clear how important it is for us to combat fascism, which is the policy of hate adopted by the Brazilian right with the purpose of achieving non-republican objectives”, said Pedro Rodrigues, 55 years old, employee of the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District.
According to Rodrigues, the main flag defended at this Wednesday’s event (8) by social movements and political parties is the rejection of any possibility of amnesty for coup plotters. “This attempted coup was brutal violence committed against the country as a whole. If violence against a person is an unacceptable crime, what can we say when it is practiced against an entire country?”, asked the public servant, amid criticism of the way some military police officers acted in today’s demonstration.
Rodrigues said he was insulted when he said good morning to a police officer, when he was being searched, upon arrival at the square. “He probably did it because of my shirt”, he explained, showing the clothes, printed with the flag of Palestine and a logo of Ursal, the so-called Union of Socialist Republics of Latin America, which, in the last presidential elections, was appointed as subversive entity of the left. The insult was denied by the Military Police.
Retired server Antônio Cunha – José Cruz/Agência Brasil
Unity
For Antônio Cunha, 70 years old, a former employee of the Health Department of the Federal District, today’s demonstration represents a celebration of freedom and empathy among Brazilians. “What we want is to live in a country where people understand and respect each other. Who know how to listen, to talk in a civilized way; that they learn to tolerate, and that they increasingly seek the ideals they have in common, instead of dwelling on their differences”, he told Brazil Agency the retired.
The desire to unite people is something present in the life of Cunha, a community leader in Recanto das Emas, a city located on the outskirts of Brasília. “We have always developed integration activities such as sports practices and debates on topics relevant to young people and children in our community,” he said.
“We have been doing this for a long time, but we noticed, a few years ago, movements that, with vested political interests, were acting to separate us. This culminated on that January 8th of the year before last; on that day of chaos, which put our democracy in danger”, he complained.
Indigenous to the Tapuiá ethnic group, located on the border between Minas Gerais and Goiás, professor Alba Valéria, who currently lives in Valparaíso, a city in Goiás on the outskirts of the Federal District, says that January 8th is the historic milestone “of a stampede that invaded the headquarters of the Three Powers”.
“They were deplorable people who came here, led by the horn blown by someone who had fled to Orlando, in the United States”, he added while mentioning the name of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
red sheep
In the professor’s assessment, the country went through a period in which a lot of manipulation was practiced, encouraging hatred against people who think differently. “I saw the effects of this even on my family. I myself was once right-wing. Until, one day, when listening to President Lula’s speech, I, an indigenous person, saw myself represented there, with him talking about something that I felt in my skin”, he said.
“After switching sides, I was called a ‘red sheep’ by my family. But, little by little, with a lot of dialogue and respect, always in the field of ideas, I helped everyone to become more aware, including the importance of democratic values. Today we are a family made up mostly of ‘red sheep’”, he stated.
Alba Valéria’s husband is a Bolsonarist. “Fortunately, he respects my political stance. We managed to maintain the dialogue at home. Conversations are always in the field of ideas, without disrespect. This is the formula for good coexistence. I really hope that our country follows the same path.”
Wet by the rain that fell, around 10 am, in Praça dos Três Poderes, wheelchair user Carlos Augusto Lopes, 54 years old, a public servant at the Federal District Education Secretariat, said that every effort to be there, in an act of defense of democracy, it was worth it.
“Democracy is freedom. And without freedom we cannot complain or demand. Only democracy allows this. Complaining is practicing constructive criticism. And when we demand, we become, in a way, an integral part of the State”, argued Lopes, highlighting the importance of January 8th being immortalized as “a symbol of the fight against an attempted coup that should never be repeated”.
Restored objects
Former employee of Palácio do Planato, Luciene Galdino was happy with the restoration of vandalized objects on January 8, 2022 – Jose Cruz/Agência Brasil
Former general services employee at Palácio do Planalto, who was responsible, among other duties, for taking care of objects and works of art that, in January 2023, were vandalized during the coup attempt, Luciene Galdino, aged 70, celebrated the return of restored pieces to the headquarters buildings of the Three Powers.
“As a Brazilian, I was very sad to see those objects being destroyed in such a barbaric way. They were masterpieces of our country’s heritage. What they did was absurd. They tried to destroy the history of our country. It was an attack against Brazil. Not just against the institutions”, lamented Luciene, who highlighted the presence, nearby, of “infiltrated people who tried to create confusion at the party”.
Luciene said this pointing to José Beckman, a 71-year-old retiree who loudly criticized the country’s current president during the demonstration. “I’m a Bolsonaro with a card. Lula doesn’t represent me because he never improved the country. He doesn’t even make the economy grow,” said Beckman.
Asked if he knew the most recent percentage of national GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth, Beckman ventured: “I think it was 6.7%”. In fact, the economy’s annual growth is in the 4% range – the highest in the last six quarters.
