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Communications Minister Fabio Faria announced to the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that Bolsonaro will make this known in an official statement later in the day. Shortly before his speech, Bolsonaro will meet with Supreme Court justices.
The far-right incumbent narrowly lost to his challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the presidential election at the weekend. So far he has remained silent, fueling speculation that he might not recognize the result.
Meanwhile, radical Bolsonaro supporters erected numerous roadblocks on important connecting roads. There are now more than 250 partial or complete roadblocks in at least 23 of the 27 Brazilian states, the Federal Traffic Police (PRF) said on Tuesday morning (local time).
“No to Lula!” Demonstrators chanted at a bridge in São Paulo. Several roads were blocked there, including a large connecting road that leads to Rio de Janeiro.
On Monday evening, the blockade of roads around Guarulhos Airport in Sao Paulo, the country’s largest international airport, caused several flights to be canceled. A particularly high number of roadblocks were reported from the southern state of Santa Catarina, where almost 70 percent of voters had voted for Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro did not admit defeat
The left-leaning Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had won the presidential election on Sunday in a dramatically close race against the far-right Bolsonaro. Lula got 50.9 percent of the vote in the runoff, Bolsonaro 49.1 percent. It is the closest presidential election result in Brazil’s recent history. So far, Bolsonaro has not publicly acknowledged his defeat. It is feared that, like his role model Donald Trump, he could deny the legitimacy of the election. As a result, as in the USA, his radicalized supporters could try to use violence to prevent the democratic transfer of power. However, some of his allies, as well as numerous world leaders, recognized Lula’s victory.
As early as Tuesday, the police in the capital Brasília restricted access to the Plaza de los Tres Poderes (Square of the Three Powers). The square is home to the President’s seat, the Parliament and Brazil’s Supreme Court. The restrictions are a precautionary measure in the face of calls for protests on the Internet, it said.
A Supreme Court judge ordered the “immediate end to the blockade of public highways and roads” on Monday evening. The Federal Traffic Police must take all necessary steps to do so.
If its general director fails to do this, he faces a fine or even arrest for “disobedience,” the Supreme Court said in a statement. PRF boss Silvinei Vasques has been criticized for calling for votes for Bolsonaro in an Instagram post on election day.
Source: Nachrichten
