Globo film stages the murder of Bolsonaro as election campaign begins

 

David Montoute
July 20th

On Saturday, July 16th, social networks were set alight by an unfortunate image in circulation:  Jair Bolsonaro appeared with the presidential sash lying on the ground, next to a motorcycle, after apparently being shot. Blood was also shown on the collar and shirt, on which you can also see the drawing of a swastika.

Several political allies and voters accused Globo of being responsible for the recording, filmed in their studios in Rio, during the middle of an electoral campaign.

"They tried to kill Bolsonaro once and they couldn't, now they are even rehearsing how to do it," his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, wrote on Facebook. "Certain broadcasters and newspapers should probably cross their fingers as they applaud such a demonstration."

The image recalls the attempted assassination of then-candidate Bolsonaro in September 2018, at a campaign event in Juiz de Fora. The knife attack almost cost the president his life and left him with health complications to this day.

“For how long will [judge] Alexandre de Moraes demand the producers explain about this hate speech? Or is [doing it with Bolsonaro] acceptable? Is it okay that you can instigate others? There is a method…” wrote deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro in reference to the leftist judge of the Supreme Court who is dedicated to persecuting journalists, politicians and right-wing activists for “hate speech” but who ignores situations like this.

Quantas horas Alexandre de Moraes dará para os produtores se manifestarem sobre discurso de ódio?

Ou será que isso pode? Será que instigar outros Adélios pode?
Tem método… pic.twitter.com/39qA5Xb9dv

— Eduardo Bolsonaro🇧🇷 (@BolsonaroSP) July 16, 2022

The film is being produced by Rede Globo, the largest media company in Brazil that supports electoral rival Lula, according to Derecha Diario.

However, the station tried to disassociate itself from the case, arguing that the images were from the movie “A Fúria”, directed by veteran film maker Ruy Guerra, and in which Canal Brasil (part of the Globo group) has “only” 3.61 % of participation in production. The film producers claimed that the dissemination of the image was illegal and had been taken "out of the context in which the story will be told." The team also said that the film will be released in 2023 and that "therefore, there is no relation to the electoral process and much less to the falsification of fake news."

After the content went viral, Justice Minister Anderson Torres determined that the case be referred to the PF (Federal Police) for investigation and requested a "full investigation of the facts."

A polarised country 

Brazil is strongly polarised along left / right lines. The current president, Jair Bolsonaro, is close to completing his first 4 years in office and aspiring to re-election in the coming October general elections.

After the results of the US presidential elections in 2020 and the accusations of electoral fraud in several states, Bolsonaro made a major effort last year to promote an “Auditable Printed Vote” law in Congress, but did not manage to get it approved. This move was predictably characterised by world corporate media as an "attack upon democracy". 

Despite having a massive popular support base, the president also faces substantial resistance from the left and the Supreme Court, which mostly aligns with the opposition. In addition to the entire Brazilian political spectrum and its propaganda machine, also opposing Bolsonaro are the principal international political elites and their media mouthpieces. Whilst initial critiques of Bolsonaro focused on his pro-agribusiness policies in the Amazon and his assimilationist approach to the country's indigenous peoples, in 2020, a new type of contention emerged. In the western hemisphere, Bolsonaro was one of the most determined critics of economy-crushing lockdown measures, and joined anti-lockdown protests from early on. The president was also an early sceptic of the emerging mRNA pseudo-vaccines, and resolutely opposed the WHO Pandemic Treaty, seeing this as a reaffirmation of Brazilian sovereignty in the face of globalist institutions. It is unclear to what extent Bolsonaro might be pondering the fate of other anti-lockdown / anti-vaccine heads-of-state, such as Pierre Nkurunziza or John Magufuli, but he is certainly aware of the hostility of the US and European political-media elites.

Both President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have now  taken to wearing bullet-proof vests to campaign rallies ahead of the October elections, with the candidates' security becoming a major concern in a more radicalised political atmosphere.

The assassination of Japan's ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe at an election campaign rally on the 7th July brought a strong condmenation from Bolsonaro and provoked much social media chatter in Brazil that conditions at home were ripe for a similar event. Only days later, a Lula party official was shot dead at an event by a policeman shouting pro-Bolsonaro slogans. Lula blamed the death on "hate speech encouraged by an irresponsible president," while Bolsonaro retorted that violent people should join "the left, which has an undeniable history of violent episodes."

Bolsonaro has had his presidential protection upgraded, but is not avoiding crowds on the campaign trail. Lula, on the other hand, has employed a team of private security guards to reinforce the team of 35 police that already take care of him. From the official opening of the campaign on August 16th, he and all other rival candidates to Bolsonaro will have access to a pool of some 300 federal police members dedicated to election protection.

This "unprecedented" deployment, according to the federal police, is due to a changing risk calculus. Historically, dozens of candidates get shot during every municipal election in Brazil. According to the University of Rio's Observatory of Political and Electoral Violence, about 40 political homicides have taken place since January this year. Many of the victims have been candidates or ex-candidates for mayoral office or municipal councils.

Alhough political violence in Brazil has traditionally been limited to the municipal level, NGOs such as the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paolo are warning that the country is now experiencing a "radical, extreme polarisation" that it is reaching the federal level of politics.

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