SÃO PAULO—Crowds gathered in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, at a rally called by the country’s former President Jair Bolsonaro on Feb. 25. Official estimates haven’t been made public, but Bolsonaro supporters estimate that about 1 million people were present.
Mr. Bolsonaro, a conservative leader previously dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” said the event would send a “photograph to the world,” capturing support for him among the people and for conservatism in Brazil. He was joined by congressmen and state governors as he addressed the gathering.
The protests happened amid increasing political tension in the divided nation. Mr. Bolsonaro called for the rallies after authorities raided his home in a broad operation also targeting 47 other people in his orbit.
They are being investigated for participation in a supposed plot for an alleged coup. Mr. Bolsonaro and others have repeatedly said they are being subjected to political persecution, citing a lack of legal basis for police raids on him and his supporters and allies. Left-leaning local press outlets have speculated that it’s only a matter of time before he is arrested.
The event was cited as a show of political force to gather votes for Mr. Bolsonaro’s allies in Brazil’s 2024 mayoral elections and a response to the allegations against him.
“With this photograph, we show that we can see a football team be champions with no fans, but we cannot understand how there’s a president without people at his side,” Mr. Bolsonaro said.
The comment alluded to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s smaller engagement.
Growing Pressure
Mr. Bolsonaro was defeated by socialist Mr. Lula by a thin margin in Brazil’s 2022 elections. The vote was controversial, and conservatives alleged a lack of transparency by authorities, with widespread protests starting immediately after Mr. Lula was declared victorious.
The movement ended in tragedy with the storming of key government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023—reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach.
The Jan. 8 riots in Brazil have been debated as the centerpiece of a supposed coup d'etat that Mr. Bolsonaro’s critics allege he headed—something the former president denies and again rebutted at the Feb. 25 rally.
Police operations centered on the supposed coup have been criticized by Bolsonaro supporters and allies in Congress as politically motivated and part of growing authoritarianism by the incumbent administration.
A leading local outlet said a Supreme Court justice stood ready to arrest Mr. Bolsonaro on the spot if he had harsh criticism for the court or its justices at the Feb. 25 rally. It was also reported that the military was preparing accommodations for the arrest of Mr. Bolsonaro and his allies.
Mr. Bolsonaro is a retired army captain, and many of his close staff are former military personnel, which, according to Brazilian law, means they could be handled by the military in case of their arrest.
Conservative journalists and social media influencers have been targeted in similar fashion, with censorship and apprehension of their passports.
The Feb. 25 rally was the first right-wing protest of this magnitude since the Jan. 8, 2023, riots. Protesters told The Epoch Times it was about freedom and democracy.
“This country has been authoritarian for a while now. ... We already are under autocratic rule, under a completely totalitarian rule,” said Edson Francisco, a 54-year-old teacher who was protesting.
“I think Jan. 8 was a trap ... many were taken into a trap. I believe today could be a way for the people to be certain that we can indeed protest. No matter what, we have the Constitution which gives us the right to protest.”
Rafael Chaves, a 42-year-old evangelical pastor who was protesting, told The Epoch Times he “came for the need Brazil faces right now, having to manifest its free speech.”
“[It is] something that had been suppressed in the past months. I won’t say names, but it’s due to certain members of certain institutions,” Mr. Chaves said.
A Diplomatic Crisis
The event gained momentum in the days prior, as the Lula administration suffered one of the worst diplomatic crises in Brazil’s history after the president, on Feb. 18, compared Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust.
The crisis led Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to personally address the situation and publicly reprimand Mr. Lula. Israel’s foreign minister took the Brazilian ambassador to the Holocaust museum as a public gesture of rejection of Mr. Lula’s words and demanded an apology—which Mr. Lula refused.
Brazil is home to a large Jewish community and to about 42 million evangelical Christians, who largely sympathize with Israel.
More than 140 congressmen filed a request for Mr. Lula’s impeachment amid the crisis, further driving protesters to the streets.
