SAINT PAUL (Special Envoy) Marcelinho’s truck has a Brazilian flag on the hood, a caricature of the President Jair Bolsonaro in the driver’s window and a drawing of the former president and main opposition candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, locked behind bars in one of the back windows. This nearly 40-year-old man is wearing a yellow shirt and cap worn by the government candidate.
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-Why are you voting for Bolsonaro- consult the letter P in Plaza del Campo de Batalla, the site chosen to build a motorbike caravan to end the campaign of the president who is seeking re-election this Sunday.
-Because it defends the values of the majority of the population: God, country and family- he argues.
Three rows of off-road trucks and high-end cars fill Santos Dumont Avenue, one of the thoroughfares through which you enter this city. Some vehicles have intervened with legends, photos and samples from the official campaign. From some come music and jingles by postulants of the ruling party. Most of them are awaiting the arrival of the President, have their doors open and their members speaking to each other. Traditional white families make up the majority of the public. There are few loose people. If it weren’t for the T-shirts, flags and headbands that say “Bolsonaro 2022”, the scene could be mistaken for a show of expensive and imposing cars.
The conclusion of the campaign shows once again that Bolsonarism is a popular and mass movement. His nationalist, sexist and violent speech finds a very important resonance in the various cities of the South American giant, proving that it is not a question of historical anomaly. This morning there is a larger presence of rich and powerful families linked to the power elites who see the Workers Party (PT) as a communist threat they are trying to install, as has been reiterated by several interlocutors letter p, “Abortion, homosexuality and marijuana”. In any case, it also finds support in popular neighborhoods with residents disappointed by the economy and PT’s heritage. This combination of sectors allowed him to win in 2018 and makes him excited for the first round this Sunday.
“I support Bolsonaro because he is against capitalism, socialism and communism,” Lucía, a tall young blonde leaning against a recent model black van and wearing a national soccer team cap, tells this portal. “Not against capitalism, not against communism,” corrects the mother. “That! Long live capitalism. Long live Bolsonaro,” adds Lucía. Both laugh.
A sector of the square is fenced. Bolsonaro appears on the street without further announcement or expectation. He wears a white shirt that makes him stand out in the wave of yellows and greens. He approaches people. He says hello, gives high fives, takes pictures, they kiss him and he kisses. The fans scream. He’s a rock star. they love it
On the street, official security men fold their arms, clench their teeth, and hold back those who pounce on the President. “Strength,” says one of them. resist. “Myth, myth, myth, myth! -as they say in the vernacular-”, the people broke out in song. Bolsonaro laughs and goes in search of his motorcycle.
The captain and state deputy of São Paulo Count Lopes walking through the caravan he wears a yellow shirt from his campaign and when they ask him for a photo like the one pictured in this note, he poses without thinking with his fingers forming a pistol, the ruling party’s symbol and a gesture to he used to belong to.
-What will happen this Sunday?- Consult letter P.
-We will win the first round.
-The polls say Lula is winning.
-I don’t believe in polls- he says, turning to point to the caravan of cars that stretches as far as the eye can see-. look at the streets People don’t like thieves.
The conclusion of the presidential campaign is massive and crowded, but there is no local press. Bolsonaro’s relationship with the media has never been good and some events have seen some attacked and attacked. The absence creates a sensation that the ruling party propagates: the media lies, they don’t tell what’s happening on the streets, and they don’t tell the truth, that is, the media discourse anticipating a Lula victory without a runoff election is not true . On the hood of a late model car, William, a gym-toned young man, affirms that the President will win in the first round. “God willing, we won in the first round. The streets prove it. That’s a fact,” he says.
A few days ago, in another act, Bolsonaro said that if he doesn’t win this Sunday with 60% of the vote, it will be because he has been cheated. No poll predicts that number, not even for the PT leader who is leading it, and no one has ever reached a number that high, but his complaint caught fire like a meadow in his voter base. The threat that the head of state will not recognize Sunday’s results and will not accept an opposition victory weighs on the city’s streets and no scenario is ruled out.
From the roof of his car, Marcelinho tells that during this campaign, Bolsonarismo filled the streets of major urban centers in different caravans to defend the President, as Bolsonaro is doing “a great job to protect the population, the poorest sectors and the values of the country”. “God willing, win in the first round,” he assures, repeating the speech of the head of state: If there is a second round, it was cheating.
-What happens if there is a vote with Lula? – asks letter P.
“Millions of people will take to the streets to protest,” he warns.
-On Monday?
-No, tomorrow (for Sunday). on the road tomorrow.