If in 1977 the "Letter to Brazilians" collected signatures almost exclusively within the legal world and was limited to one hundred or so supporters, the current manifesto for democracy is already on its way to reaching 1 million signatories from the most diverse areas of society.
They are artists, athletes, intellectuals, doctors, economists, former ministers, businessmen, and bankers – in addition to lawyers of all generations, who could not be missing from a text to be read on August 11th at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) School of law. The pop and ecumenical approach was a deliberate strategy of the organizers of the "Letter to the Brazilian men and women in Defense of the Democratic Rule of Law".
The list of famous signatories has grown in part due to the work of 342Artes, a collective of Brazilian artists fighting censorship and slander. The group helped in the search for names in the pop world, although several people came to the letter on their own. People like the writer Paulo Coelho, the filmmaker José Padilha, who signed during an interview with Folha, and the presenter Luciano Huck, are all in support of the manifesto.
Also on the list are actors and actresses such as Adriana Esteves, Bruna Lombardi, Bruno Gagliasso, Camila Pitanga, Edson Celulari, Fernanda Lima, Fernanda Montenegro, Lázaro Ramos, Marcos Palmeira, Miguel Falabella, Patrícia Pillar and Taís Araújo.
Translated by Cassy Dias