Latest news with #pro-Bolsonaro
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Outrage in Brazil over reports of new red national football jersey
Brazil celebrates after scoring goal during a quarterfinal match against Croatia in the World Cup on 9 December 2022. Brazil celebrates after scoring goal during a quarterfinal match against Croatia in the World Cup on 9 December 2022. Photograph: Héctor Vivas/FIFA/Getty Images 'Our flag will never be red!' rightwing Brazilians took to chanting during the heyday of the left-bashing former president Jair Bolsonaro. But their football shirts soon might be, amid incendiary reports that the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is considering introducing a crimson jersey for the national team ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Advertisement Those claims have sparked predictable outrage among hardcore rightwingers who consider red the anti-patriotic colour of Brazil's leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his Workers' Party (PT) and the Landless Workers' Movement (MST). 'Our team's shirt will never be red – and neither will our country!' thundered Romeu Zema, a conservative governor hoping to claim the mantle of Bolsonaro, who faces jail for allegedly masterminding a failed right-wing coup after losing the 2022 election. In a social media video, Zema hurled a mock-up of the red shirt onto the ground in theatrical disgust. Bolsonaro's politician son, Flávio Bolsonaro, said the supposed plans needed 'vehemently repudiating', insisting: 'Our flag isn't red – and it never will be'. But Bolsonaristas are not the only ones up in arms about the reported attempt to swap Brazil's blue away shirt – in use since the country won the first of its five World Cup, in 1958 – for a red one. Advertisement Football purists of all political stripes have clobbered the 'leaked' plans since they surfaced on Monday in a viral report by the football website Footy Headlines. The idea has proved so controversial that the CBF was forced to deny it on Tuesday insisting online images of the red jersey were not official and that it remained committed to yellow and blue shirts. The kit for next year's World Cup had yet to be designed in partnership with Brazil's official kit supplier Nike, the CBF claimed. Walter Casagrande, a Lula-voting former player and commentator who is associated with Brazil's left and pro-democracy movement, called the scheme 'idiocy'. Sports writer Paulo Vinícius Coelho said the move showed 'a complete lack of sense' and was almost certainly commercially driven. Advertisement Galvão Bueno, Brazil's most famous TV commentator, called the idea 'a crime' and a 'gigantic insult' to the glorious history of a national team which has won more World Cups than any other country. Some leftwing Brazilians were more receptive to the idea of a crimson kit. Over the past decade the country's iconic yellow jersey has become a symbol of the far right and is regularly worn at pro-Bolsonaro rallies. Many progressives now refuse to wear it. In a pro-red shirt manifesto, columnist Milly Lacombe declared that she would wear the jersey with pride and rejected the outbreak of 'collective hysteria' over the mooted shirt. 'Red is a strong colour that stands for revolution, change, transformation, blood, struggle, life, death, rebirth,' she wrote. Juca Kfouri, a left-leaning football writer who is among those who shun the yellow shirt, also rejected the 'bad taste' change, arguing that a red shirt would further fuel the toxic politics swirling around the national team's attire and divide supporters. Advertisement 'Red doesn't have anything to do with Brazil,' Kfouri said, although he noted that Brazil took its name from a redwood tree called Pau-Brasil (Brazilwood in English) and, in the early 19th century, had red in its first flag. Kfouri suspected the red shirt story was 'a trial balloon' devised to see how the money-making ruse went down with fans. 'Just like politicians sometimes leak a policy, wait to see how the social networks react and, depending on that reaction, give up or move ahead,' he said. For the CBF, the hoo-ha was also a helpful diversion as it sought to shift attention away from its apparent failure to recruit the Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, as Brazil's next manager and a compromising exposé in a Brazilian magazine. 'It distracts from the things that really matter,' Kfouri said.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brazilian pro-Bolsonaro protester who wrote on statue with lipstick sentenced to 14 years in jail: report
A Brazilian protester was reportedly sentenced to 14 years in jail for writing a message in lipstick on a statue during demonstrations in 2023. Debora Rodrigues, 39, was recently sentenced after being convicted of involvement with a criminal organization with intent to launch a coup, according to the BBC. Rodrigues was a supporter of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. His supporters attacked government buildings after he lost to now-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 presidential election. Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters took part in the protest. Rodrigues, who works as a hairdresser, wrote, "You lost, idiot" on the statue of Justice outside the Supreme Federal Court. How Brazilian Police Say Bolsonaro Plotted A Coup To Stay In Office However, she didn't expect to be prosecuted for writing the message, and told the jury that she was unaware of the scale of the protests. Read On The Fox News App "I went to the protests and I didn't imagine that they would be so turbulent," Rodrigues was quoted as saying, according to the BBC. Rumble, Trump Media Declare 'Complete Victory For Free Speech' In Win Against Brazilian Judge "I have never done anything illegal in my life," she added. According to the BBC, Justice Alexandre de Moraes argued that the hairdresser "consciously and voluntarily" aligned herself with protesters seeking to overthrow the Brazilian government. The justice also accused Rodrigues of concealing evidence by possibly deleting messages on her phone, and said that the 39-year-old had admitted to taking part in "anti-democratic acts." The lengthy nature of the sentence has been used by Bolsonaro supporters to argue that they are victims of political persecution by the left-wing Lula administration, working in conjunction with Brazil's Supreme Court. Bolsonaro himself has called for amnesty for Rodrigues in a post on X. In March, Bolsonaro was ordered to stand trial over the alleged coup attempt to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat. The right-wing politician, who has an ongoing power struggle against Lula, was also told by the Brazilian Supreme Court that he is not permitted to run in 2026. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: Brazilian pro-Bolsonaro protester who wrote on statue with lipstick sentenced to 14 years in jail: report
Indian Express
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Brazil's ‘lipstick coup' protester jailed for 14 years for defacing statue during riot
A woman in Brazil has been sentenced to 14 years behind bars — all because of a message written with lipstick. Debora Rodrigues, a 39-year-old hairdresser, made headlines after she joined the chaotic pro-Bolsonaro riots in Brasília in January 2023. As per a report by BBC, amid the mayhem, Rodrigues famously wrote 'You lost, idiot' across the statue of Justice outside the Supreme Federal Court — an act now dubbed the 'lipstick coup'. Justice Cristiano Zanin, one of five judges overseeing her case, was quick to point out she wasn't on trial just for the graffiti. Rodrigues was convicted of a long list of charges: destruction of property, membership in a criminal organisation, and involvement in an attempted coup. 'I went to the protests and I didn't imagine that they would be so turbulent,' she told the court. 'I have never done anything illegal in my life.' Her lawyers argued she acted 'in the heat of the moment' and hadn't even entered any buildings — but the court wasn't buying it, as per the BBC report. Justice Alexandre de Moraes said Rodrigues had 'consciously and voluntarily' joined the plot to topple the government, noting suspicious gaps in her phone data. Her case has since become a rallying cry for Bolsonaro supporters, who claim she's a victim of political persecution. Even Bolsonaro chimed in, reposting a call for amnesty on X. Bolsonaro is also facing criminal proceedings over the alleged coup attempt. If found guilty he faces over 40 years in prison.
The Guardian
26-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Bolsonaro must stand trial over alleged coup attempt, Brazil's top court rules
Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for allegedly orchestrating a violent plot to seize power through a military coup, after the country's supreme court decided he should face criminal prosecution. The ruling leaves the far-right populist, who governed Brazil from 2019 until the end of 2022, facing political oblivion and a possible jail sentence of more than 40 years. The supreme court decided that seven other close allies of the ex-president should also stand trial for crimes including involvement in an armed criminal organization, coup d'état and violently attempting to abolish Brazilian democracy. They are: Bolsonaro's former defense ministers Gen Walter Braga Netto and Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; his former navy commander, Adm Almir Garnier Santos; his former security minister, Anderson Torres; his former spy chief Alexandre Ramagem; his former minister for institutional security, Gen Augusto Heleno; and his former assistant, Lt Col Mauro Cid, who, if convicted, will receive a lighter sentence after he struck a plea deal with prosecutors. The men are accused of forming the kernel of a sprawling conspiracy to keep Bolsonaro in power after he narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election to his leftwing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. On Wednesday the majority of a five-strong panel of supreme court judges ruled that there was sufficient evidence for all of those men to face prosecution and officially declared them defendants. The accusations relate to an alleged plan to stage a pro-Bolsonaro coup in the months between the October 2022 election and the far-right riots that broke out in Brasília on 8 January 2023 – one week after Lula's inauguration. Those attacks – which many believe were inspired by the 6 January 2021 storming of the US Capitol – were allegedly incited as part of a last-ditch attempt to return Bolsonaro to the presidency, against the public will, by creating turmoil that would justify a military intervention. 'It was a veritable pitched battle … It was an extraordinarily violent attempted coup d'état,' the supreme court judge Alexandre de Moraes told the court as he showed video footage of Bolsonarista hooligans vandalizing the supreme court and attacking police in the capital. 'Untamed violence – utter insolence … These images leave no doubt as to the materiality and the gravity of the crimes committed,' Moraes added. In the weeks and months before the rightwing rampage in Brasília, a series of other machinations were allegedly afoot in the hope of stopping Lula taking power – some of them deadly. Police claim one sub-plot – code-named 'Green and Yellow Dagger' – included plans to cause social and political chaos by assassinating Lula with poison and shooting the supreme court judge Moraes dead. Brazil's attorney general, Paulo Gonet, told the court police investigators had 'uncovered a terrifying operation to carry out the coup, which even included killing the president and vice-president elect, as well as that of a supreme court minister'. One assassination plot 'envisaged using explosives, military ordnance and poison … [and] the operators only didn't follow through on what had been agreed because they didn't manage to … co-opt the commander of the army,' Gonet added, urging judges to put Bolsonaro and his alleged accomplices on trial. Bolsonaro rejected the charges in a lengthy WhatsApp statement sent to allies as the hearing began on Tuesday, calling the case against him 'an aberration, the likes of which has never been seen before'. 'They are accusing me of a crime I never committed – a supposed attempted coup,' Bolsonaro claimed, insisting he had never desired or suggested 'a democratic rupture'. However, the former president admitted having discussed what he called 'political alternatives for the nation' with his aides. In court, lawyers for the accused also denied their clients had broken the law, although many stopped short of denying a coup attempt had taken place. Bolsonaro's lawyer, Celso Vilardi, denied the ex-president had been involved in the 8 January uprising or led a criminal organization that plotted to murder Lula and other top authorities. José Luis Mendes de Oliveira Lima, a lawyer representing Braga Netto, called his client 'a man of unblemished reputation' who was not guilty of 'any kind of criminal act'. Oliveira's lawyer, Andrew Fernandes Faris, called the former defense minister 'a most honourable man', and called for the charges against him to be thrown out. The lawyer for Torres, Eumar Novacki, denied his client was part of the 'macabre coup drama' and claimed the investigation was filled with 'false conclusions'. Demóstenes Torres, representing Santos, also denied his client was part of the plot and attacked the 'federal police novelists' he claimed had concocted a fictional narrative about the supposed conspiracy. Ramagem's lawyer, Paulo Renato Garcia Cintra Pinto, said it would have made no sense for his client to have tried to destroy Brazil's democracy since he had himself just been elected to congress in the 2022 election. Bernardo Mello Franco, a political commentator for the newspaper O Globo, said he saw little chance of the ex-president avoiding jail. 'Bolsonaro will probably be convicted, Bolsonaro will probably be arrested – or he'll go into exile, he'll flee the country … From a judicial standpoint Bolsonaro's cornered,' he said. Bolsonaro's best chance of a 'political resurrection' lay in helping elect a rightwing ally in next year's presidential election who would agree to pardoning him after taking power. His congressman son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, and wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, were possible candidates. The far-right populist was also banking on support from his most important foreign ally, the US president, Donald Trump, in his quest to avoid jail and ensure his political survival. 'Bolsonaro is hoping Trump will be a kind of saviour for him, both politically and judicially. He believes Trump will somehow interfere in Brazilian politics to help him,' said Mello Franco, although he suspected Trump had bigger fish to fry. 'Right now, I think Trump seems to have greater priorities than Brazil … [and that] the Bolsonaros are paying more attention to Trump than Trump is paying to Bolsonaro.'
Arab Times
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
Bolsonaro supporters protest on Copacabana Beach to defend him after coup charges
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 17, (AP): Thousands of backers of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro poured onto Copacabana Beach on Sunday to express their support for the far-right politician as he faces charges he plotted a coup. Bolsonaro and close allies attended the demonstration in which protesters also called for Congress to grant amnesty to those in jail for their roles in the Jan 8, 2023 riot, when government buildings in the capital Brasilia were ransacked. A sea of people wearing Brazil's yellow-and-green national soccer jersey chanted and held placards reading "Amnesty, now!' Local media reported that around 18,000 people attended, based on figures from a monitoring project linked to the University of Sao Paulo. Bolsonaro's allies had hoped to draw a crowd of 1 million. Copacabana has regularly been the site for rallies called by Bolsonaro at times when he has sought to demonstrate his political strength. Last month, Brazil 's prosecutor-general formally charged Bolsonaro with attempting a coup to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Part of that plot allegedly included plans to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees several cases against him. After losing to Lula, Bolsonaro refused to concede, and left for the United States days before the end of his term. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and has said he is a victim of political persecution. His defense is seeking to send the case to the full Supreme Court, where Bolsonaro appointed two of its 11 justices. If convicted, the former president could be sentenced to decades behind bars. Speaking at the demonstration, Bolsonaro again refuted the accusations. "Nobody buys that story. The only reason this coup story wasn't perfect for them was because I was in the United States. If I'd been here, I'd still be in prison, or maybe killed by them. I'm going to be a problem for them, in prison or dead,' he said. The pro-Bolsonaro demonstration took place nine days before a panel of five of Brazil's 11 Supreme Court justices will gather in Brasilia to decide whether the former president and several of his allies will stand trial on five counts. Ahead of the march, his son Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro sought to rally the troops. "The hundreds of political prisoners and persecuted people need all of us more than ever,' he said in a video posted on social media on March 9.
