Pro-Government demonstrations are scheduled to take place across Brazil on Sunday, May 26, but president Jair Bolsonaro does not support some of the protesters’ goals, which include closing the Congress and the Supreme Court (STF).
At breakfast with journalists on Thursday (23) Bolsonaro criticized these themes, saying that they are “more for Maduro,” a reference to the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro that Bolsonaro criticizes.
Bolsonaro’s supporters called the protests for Sunday in response to the May 15 protests, in which professors and students marched against education budget cuts.
Bolsonaro’s comments on Thursday morning contradict his previous behavior—as a federal deputy Bolsonaro defended closing Congress. In July of last year, one of his sons, deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL-SP) said during a class that one only needed two soldiers to close the Supreme Court.
The president, who called the protesters against education budget cuts “manipulated masses,” also said that the Sunday protests are spontaneous.
Bolsonaro was counseled to maintain distance between his government and the protests, so he will not attend them.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon