I am a Victim of Political Persecution

”As a person who has been a victim of political persecution,” the allegations that I was involved in orchestrating a coup d’état following the 2022 elections ”are nothing but blatant falsehoods”. This was the firm statement made by theformer Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro in a rally that saw the participation of hundreds of thousands of his supporters in Sao Paulo. The former President urged the attendees to ”leave the past behind and focus on the future”. The massive crowd, donned in yellow-green attire, the colors of the Brazilian flag, listened as he declared his plans to seek amnesty from the Parliament for the numerous supporters who have been found guilty of assaults on public buildings. He sympathetically referred to these individuals as “unfortunate souls who are now incarcerated in Brasilia.”

“‘Bolsonaro plotted to execute a coup d’état’. This is a narrative I have been incessantly exposed to ever since I assumed office. But what constitutes a coup d’état? It involves the deployment of tanks in the streets, the use of weapons, the formulation of conspiracies, and the consolidation of support from the business sectors. I can assure you that none of these activities were carried out in Brazil under my administration. Despite this fact, they persistently accuse me of being a schemer of a coup,” Bolsonaro passionately expressed during the rally.

As covered by the newspaper ‘O Globo’, Bolsonaro asserted that “my primary objective is to foster pacification, to enable us to let go of our past, to find common ground to coexist peacefully and to prevent further public outrage and scandals”.