It's no surprise that Flock and Tucker Carlson have a thing for Jair Bolsonaro. He's right out of the Trump/Putin school of authoritarianism.flockofseagulls104 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 10:29 pmHere is where we're going if we reelect the current regime.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/26/americas ... index.htmlBolsonaro faces a Brazilian Federal Police investigation into an alleged attempted coup plot to keep him in power after he lost the 2022 presidential election, his lawyer confirmed in early February. Several former ministers who served in Bolsonaro’s government are also being investigated and some of his aides have been arrested, according to CNN affiliate CNN Brasil.
Bolsonaro on Sunday insisted he is being persecuted, without directly mentioning the institutions handling the investigation, CNN Brasil reported. Last year, Bolsonaro was barred from running for political office until 2030 by the country’s highest electoral court for abusing his power and misusing public media during the 2022 election campaign.
After Bolsonaro lost the election by a narrow margin to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his supporters rioted and broke into government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Bolsonaro has denied inciting the violent attacks in the capital. On Sunday, Bolsonaro said Parliament should offer “amnesty for those poor people who are imprisoned in Brasília,” in reference to the January 8 rioters, according to CNN Brasil.
The only difference between Bolsonaro and Trump is that Brazil's high court wasn't as friendly to Bolsonaro as our Supreme Court has been to Trump. Oh, and Bolsonaro actually served in the military instead of hiding behind a convenient bone spur diagnosis.
Bolsonaro Threatens Democratic Rule: Harasses Supreme Court, Signals He May Cancel Elections, Violates Free Speech
9/15/21 wrote:President Jair Bolsonaro is threatening democratic rule in Brazil, Human Rights Watch said today on International Day of Democracy. He is pursuing campaigns to intimidate the Supreme Court, signaling that he may attempt to cancel the 2022 election or otherwise deny Brazilians the right to elect their leaders, and violating critics’ freedom of expression. On September 7, 2021, during speeches at rallies in Brasilia and São Paulo, President Bolsonaro attacked the Supreme Court and warned that Brazilians “could not permit” the existing electoral system to remain in place and that there “could not be elections that create doubts among voters,” citing unproven claims of electoral fraud. Congress had rejected a bill promoted by Bolsonaro to change electoral processes based on these claims. The recent speeches are part of the president’s pattern of actions and statements that appear designed to undermine fundamental rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law in Brazil.
“President Bolsonaro, an apologist for Brazil’s abusive military dictatorship, is increasingly hostile to the democratic system of checks and balances,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “He is using a mixture of insults and threats to intimidate the Supreme Court, which is overseeing investigations into his conduct, and with his baseless claims of electoral fraud seems to be laying the groundwork to either try to cancel next year’s elections or contest the will of the people if he is not re-elected”
Brazil’s Supreme Court has become a key check on President Bolsonaro’s anti-human rights policies, such as his effort to effectively suspend the country’s access to information law. Instead of respecting the independence of the judicial system, the president has responded with insults and threats, Human Rights Watch said.
On September 7, President Bolsonaro said he would not abide by any decision by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Justice Moraes oversees federal police investigations into whether the president illegally interfered with internal federal police appointments to further his personal interests, released a secret federal police document for political reasons, and spread false information about the electoral system. In his speech, President Bolsonaro told Justice Moraes to close those investigations and told the chief justice, Luiz Fux, without explaining, that if he doesn’t punish Justice Moraes, the justice system “can suffer something we don’t want to happen.” An additional ongoing investigation, authorized by another Supreme Court justice, examines whether President Bolsonaro committed malfeasance in connection with a case of alleged corruption in the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.
On September 8, Chief Justice Fux responded that insulting justices and inciting non-compliance with judicial decisions “are anti-democratic, illegal, and intolerable practices.” Previously, President Bolsonaro had claimed, without providing any evidence, that the last two presidential elections were fraudulent, including his own election, in which he claimed he got more votes than the final tally showed. Since 1996, Brazil has used electronic voting machines, which are not connected to the internet. The Superior Electoral Tribunal has said there have been “no traces or proof of electoral fraud” since then. On September 9, the tribunal created a transparency commission made up of public bodies, civil society, and experts to monitor and audit upcoming elections.
On August 4, Supreme Court justice Moraes ordered an investigation into whether President Bolsonaro’s baseless electoral fraud claims constituted an offense, such as falsely accusing someone of committing a crime with electoral purposes or inciting the subversion of political and social order. The president threatened to respond with actions “not within the bounds of the Constitution.” He also petitioned the Senate to impeach Justice Moraes, the first time such a petition has been made since democracy was restored in Brazil in 1985. The Senate president rejected it.
President Bolsonaro often claims to defend “democracy,” but his statements raise questions about what he means by democracy, Human Rights Watch said. A former army captain, he is a defender of Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964-1985), which was marked by widespread torture and killings. He reinstated commemorations of the coup that inaugurated it, which his government has called “landmark of Brazilian democracy,” and has described a late colonel who directed one of the dictatorship’s torture centers “a national hero.” In April and May 2020, at a time when President Bolsonaro was attacking the Supreme Court, his supporters held rallies calling for a military regime and the closure of the Supreme Court and Congress.
In addition, President Bolsonaro has violated freedom of speech, which is vital for a healthy democracy. He has blocked critics on the social media accounts he uses to announce and discuss matters of public interest. His administration has sought prison sentences against at least 16 critics, including journalists, university professors, and politicians. Even though many of those cases have been closed without charges, those government actions send the message that criticizing the president can lead to persecution, Human Rights Watch said.
