Just this past weekend, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets. They vehemently railed against any possible amnesty for former President Jair Bolsonaro. Public sentiment is rising in the wake of Bolsonaro’s recent conviction. He was arrested for conspiring to attempt a coup following his 2022 presidential election defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Protests quickly spread across major cities in Brazil—Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro—during the protests’ initial days. This was a watershed in the country’s political history.
In Salvador, the vibrant capital of Bahia and birthplace of the Brazilian art form Candomblé, Golden Globe-nominated Brazilian actor Wagner Moura spoke to a sea of demonstrators. He underscored how important this moment is for Brazilian democracy. He underscored the people’s collective power to push back against injustice.
In various cities across Brazil, massive crowds filled squares and beaches to express their opposition to right-wing efforts aimed at allowing Bolsonaro to evade imprisonment. Earlier this month, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his efforts to maintain power at all costs.
The support from popular Brazilian musicians such as Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil helped to supercharge the protests. Together, their presence energized the crowd and amplified the movement’s message. Veloso, 83, addressing a rally on Rio’s Copacabana beach, where protesters braved a heat index above 35°C.
“The Brazilian people elected Lula – and that’s why democracy in [Brazil] endures,” – Caetano Veloso
In his testimony against the bill, he argued that granting amnesty wouldn’t calm the political storm, but intensify it.
“We do not want a repeat of the 1979 amnesty … which meant that nobody was punished [for the regime’s crimes],” – Chico Buarque
On Copacabana beach, Veloso, Buarque, and Gil awakened the memories of over four decades past by singing songs from Brazil’s dictatorship period. The electrified crowd erupted in a roar as they chanted “Sem anistia”, or “No amnesty”. This creative musical element served to amplify the emotional weight of the protests.
In Belo Horizonte, singer Fernanda Takai condemned the “shameless” maneuver to give Bolsonaro amnesty from prosecution during a demonstration. In São Paulo, tens of thousands of joiners packed the space in front of their city’s art museum. They unfurled a massive Brazilian flag above their heads with pride.
Protests mounting outside of Brazil’s borders. In Germany, activists took to the streets in Berlin, calling upon the Brazilian government to ensure Bolsonaro does his time. This was evident in the international appeals for Brazilian democracy, ranging from these civil society forums to UN special rapporteurs.
“We have to go out on to the streets, as we have in the past, to say that we – as a people, as a nation – will not accept this,” – Caetano Veloso
These demonstrators were protesting recent ruled legislative measures taken by Brazil’s conservative-dominated lower house. To address these issues, they approved a draft legislation, which they dubbed the “Bandit’s Bill.” Opponents claim that this bill would shield corrupt lawmakers from violence.
At one day of the protests, demonstrators carried giant effigies of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. This extravagant flourish represented simultaneously their contempt for all political life and that of its leaders of ideology altogether.
Brazil is going through extremely severe political crises. In turn, citizens are adamantly fighting back to defend democracy’s ideals and resist any machinations at subverting justice out of self-interest.