New Delhi: Over 150 parliamentarians, ministers, former presidents and intellectuals from 26 countries in an open letter expressed outrage over Jair Bolsonaro’s attempt to launch a direct attack against the democratic institutions of Brazil through what he calls a “necessary counter-coup”.
The open letter first appeared on Progressive International.
With Bolsonaro’s chances of getting re-elected in the January 2022 presidential reelection dimming, his allies in Congress pushed sweeping reforms to the country’s electoral system. As the country’s Supreme Court and Congress opposed those reforms, Bolsonaro has called upon his followers to take up a nationwide march and to congregate in the country’s capital, Brasilia, on September 7 to ‘save’ the country from them.
Many members of Congress see parallels between Brazil’s September 7 march and the Capitol riot of January 6, after former US president Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to “stop the steal” with false claims of electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential elections.
In his messages to his supporters, Bolsonaro has claimed that the “communist constitution” has taken away his power, and accused “the judiciary, the Left, and a whole apparatus of hidden interests” of conspiring against him.
Against this backdrop, the signatories of the open letter said, “We are gravely concerned about the imminent threat to Brazil’s democratic institutions — and we stand vigilant to defend them ahead of 7 September and after. The people of Brazil have struggled for decades to secure democracy from military rule. Bolsonaro must not be permitted to rob them of it now.”
Reproduced below are the full statement and the list of signatories
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We, elected representatives and leaders from around the world, are sounding the alarm: On 7 September 2021, an insurrection will endanger democracy in Brazil.
Right now, President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies — including white supremacist groups, military police, and public officials at every level of government — are preparing a nation-wide march against the Supreme Court and Congress on 7 September, stoking fears of a coup in the world’s third largest democracy.
President Bolsonaro has escalated his attacks on Brazil’s democratic institutions in recent weeks. On 10 August, he directed an unprecedented military parade through the capital city of Brasília, as his allies in Congress pushed sweeping reforms to the country’s electoral system, widely considered to be one of the most trustworthy in the world. Bolsonaro and his government have threatened — several times — to cancel the 2022 presidential elections if Congress fails to approve these reforms.
Now, Bolsonaro is calling on his followers to travel to Brasília on 7 September in an act of intimidation of the country’s democratic institutions. According to a message shared by the President on 21 August, the march is preparation for a “necessary counter-coup” against the Congress and the Supreme Court. The message claimed that Brazil’s “communist constitution” has taken away Bolsonaro’s power, and accused “the Judiciary, the left, and a whole apparatus of hidden interests” of conspiring against him.
Members of Congress in Brazil have warned that the 7 September mobilization has been modeled on the insurrection at the United States Capital on 6 January 2021, when then-president Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to “stop the steal” with false claims of electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential elections.
We are gravely concerned about the imminent threat to Brazil’s democratic institutions — and we stand vigilant to defend them ahead of 7 September and after. The people of Brazil have struggled for decades to secure democracy from military rule. Bolsonaro must not be permitted to rob them of it now.
Signed,
José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Former Prime Minister, Spain
Fernando Lugo, Fmr President, Paraguay
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Laureate, Argentina
Noam Chomsky, Professor, USA
Yanis Varoufakis, Member of Parliament, Greece
Ernesto Samper, Fmr President, Colombia
Jeremy Corbyn, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Cori Bush, Member of the House of Representatives, USA
Jean-Luc Melenchon, Member of the National Assembly, France
Gustavo Petro, Senator, Colombia
Caroline Lucas, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Golriz Gharahman, Member of Parliament, New Zealand
Larissa Waters, Senator, Australia
Helmut Scholz, Member of the European Parliament, Germany
Manon Aubry, Member of the European Parliament, France
Gonzalo Winter, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile
Heinz Bierbaum, President of the Party of the European Left, Germany
Ricardo Patiño, Fmr Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ecuador
Unai Sordo, General Secretary of Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), Spain
Cornel West, Professor, USA
María José Pizarro, Member of the House of Representatives, Colombia
Juan Somavía, Fmr Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Chile
Rafael Correa, Fmr President, Ecuador
Oscar Laborde, President of Mercosur Parliament, Argentina
Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Member of the Chicago City Council, USA
Manuel Bompard, Member of the European Parliament, France
Rafael Michelini, Senator, Uruguay
Nelson Larzabal, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay
Celso Amorim, Fmr Minister of Foreign Relations, Brazil
Ana Isabel Prera, Fmr Ambassador, Guatemala
Hugo Yasky, Secretary-General of Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina (CTA), Argentina
Mehreen Faruqi, Senator, Australia
Thierry Bodson, President of the Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique (FGTB), Belgium
Denis de la Reussille, Member of the National Council, Switzerland
Marco Enriquez-Ominami, Fmr Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile
Aída García Naranjo, Fmr Minister of Women and Social Development, Peru
Jordon Steele-John, Senator, Australia
Martín Torrijos, Fmr President, Panamá
Liliam Kechichian, Senator, Uruguay
Nicolás Viera, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay
Zarah Sultana, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Claudia Webbe, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Martin Buschmann, Member of EU Parliament, Germany
Kenny MacAskill, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Mick Whitley, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Marion Fellows, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Mohammad Yasin, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Tony Lloyd, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
John McDonnell, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Kate Osborne, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Ian Byrne, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Pauline Bryan, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom
Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Prem Sikka, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom
John Hendy, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom
Gerardo Pisarello, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Cecilia Britto, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina
Gabriela Rivadeneria, Fmr President of National Assembly, Ecuador
Aina Vidal, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Daisy Tourné, Senator, Uruguay
Eric Calcagno, National Deputy, Argentina
Omar Plaini, Senator, Argentina
Marcela Aguiñaga, Fmr Minister of the Environment, Ecuador
Rafael Mayoral, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Fernanda Vallejo, National Deputy, Argentina
Idoia Villanueva, Member of the European Parliament, Spain
Lucía Muñoz Dalda, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Marita Perceval, Senator, Argentina
Ricardo Oviedo, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina
Maite Mola, Vice-President of the Party of the European Left, Spain
Andres Arauz, Fmr Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent, Ecuador
Alicia Castro, Fmr Ambassador, Argentina
Adolfo Mendoza Leigue, Senator, Bolivia
Barry Gardiner, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Jon Cruddas, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Mary Kelly Foy, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Apsana Begum, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Maurizio Landini, General Secretary of Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Italy
Kim Johnson, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Diane Abbott, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Tahir Ali, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Sira Rego, Member of the European Parliament, Spain
Manu Pineda, Member of the European Parliament, Spain
Richard Burgon, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Iván Cepeda Castro, Senator, Colombia
Daniel Caggiani, Fmr President of the Mercosur Parliament, Uruguay
Guillaume Long, Fmr Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ecuador
José Roselli, National Deputy, Argentina
Guillermo Carmona, National Deputy, Argentina
Arlindo Chinaglia, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Brazil
Paola Vega, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Costa Rica
Juan López de Uralde, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Monica Macha, National Deputy, Argentina
Martina Velarde, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Antònia Jover, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Daniel Martínez, Fmr Mayor of Montevideo, Uruguay
Ana Merelis, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Bolivia
Perpétua Almeida, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Brazil
Carlos Ominami, Fmr Senator, Chile
Hugo Martínez, Fmr Foreign Minister, El Salvador
Scott Ludlam, Fmr Senator, Australia
Leïla Chaibi, Member of the European Parliament, France
Saúl Ortega, Fmr President of the Mercosur Parliament, Venezuela
Mónica Xavier, Fmr Senator, Uruguay
Paulão, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Brazil
Cristina Alvarez Rodríguez, National Deputy, Argentina
Lia Veronica Caliva, National Deputy, Argentina
Fotini Bakadima, Member of Parliament, Greece
Ricardo Canese, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Paraguay
Héctor Fernández, National Deputy, Argentina
Alejandro Rusconi, International Relations Secretary of Movimiento Evita, Argentina
Amanda Della Ventura, Senator, Uruguay
Carlos López, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina
Juan Carlos Alderete, National Deputy, Argentina
Ruth Buffalo, Member of the North Dakota House of Representatives, USA
Adrien Quatennens, Member of the National Assembly, France
Cristian Bello, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina
Alberto Grillón, Fmr Senator, Paraguay
Jahiren Noriega Donoso, Member of the National Assembly, Ecuador
Carlos Sotelo, Fmr Senator, Mexico
Nanci Parrilli, Senator, Argentina
María Antonieta Saa Diaz, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile
Marcia Covarrubias, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile
Bettiana Díaz, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay
Gastón Harispe, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina
Ubaldo Aíta, Member of the Chamber of Representatives, Uruguay
Carolina Yutrovic, National Deputy, Argentina
Claudia Mix, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile
Clara López, Fmr Minister of Labour, Colombia
Karol Cariola, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile
Roser Maestro, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Mercedes Pérez, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Victoria Donda, National Deputy, Argentina
Benoît Martin, President of the Confédération Générale du Travail-Paris (CGT-Paris), France
Marisa Saavedra, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Miguel Bustamante, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Antón Gómez-Reino, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Pedro Antonio Honrubia, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Joan Mena, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Mar García Puig, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Txema Guijarro, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Pablo Echenique, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Sofía Castañón, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Javier Sanchez, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Pilar Garrido, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Ismael Cortés, Member of the Congress of Deputies, Spain
Julio Sotelo, Member of the Mercosur Parliament, Argentina
Florence Poznanski, National Secretary Parti de Gauche, France
John Ackerman, Professor, Mexico
Karina Oliva, Fmr Gubernatorial Candidate for the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile
Florence Poznanski, National Executive Secretary of the Parti de Gauche, France
Jean-Christophe Sellin, Co-coordinator of the Parti de Gauche, France
Helene Lecacheux, Co-coordinator of the Parti de Gauche, France
Camilo Lagos, President of the Partido Progresista, Chile
Gibrán Ramírez Reyes, Professor, Mexico
Katu Arkonada, Network of Intellectuals in Defense of Humanity, Mexico
Eduardo Valdes, National Deputy, Argentina
Nora Del Valle Giménez, Senator, Argentina
Minou Tabarez Miraval, National Deputy, Dominican Republic
Yves Niveaux, Direction of the PST/POP, Switzerland
Marc Botenga, Member of EU Parliament, Belgium
Felipe Carballo, Diputado Nacional, Frente Amplio, Uruguay
José Miguel Insulza, Fmr Foreign Minister, Chile
Mathilde Pannot, Member of the National Assembly, France