Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) was applauded and booed at the Santuário Nacional de Aparecida (National Sanctuary of Aparecida), São Paulo state, on Wednesday (12). That is the day that Our Lady Aparecida, Brazil's patron saint, is celebrated.
The president’s entourage caused a stir among believers moments before the afternoon mass started at 2 pm. The priest asked for silence, but Bolsonaro supporters tried to chant the chorus “myth”, while opponents shouted “Lula, Lula!”.
President’s supporters also showed hostility towards Aparecida TV journalists, a TV channel related to the National Sanctuary of Aparecida and the Catholic Church. Videos recorded by CNN Brasil show Bolsonaro supporters threatening and cursing them.
Tweet: “CNN crew catches live demonstrations by supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro against the cameraman from TV Vanguarda, who had to be escorted out by employees of TV Aparecida at the National Shrine in Aparecida. Live on #CNN360 with @DanielaLima_ Watch:
Bolsonaro was accompanied by his son Eduardo Bolsonaro (Liberal Party, São Paulo), Marcelo Queiroga (Health minister), Tarcício de Freitas (former infrastructure minister and candidate for governor of São Paulo state), and Marcos Pontes (former science and technology minister and elected senator by the Liberal Party).
Earlier this same day, during the homily of the main mass celebrated at the National Sanctuary of Aparecida, archbishop Orlando Brandes said that it is necessary to fight “the dragon of hate”, lies, unemployment, hunger, and incredulity.
Despite not mentioning the names of candidates, Brandes' speech was strongly related to Bolsonaro, who was not invited to the altar of the Sanctuary as on other occasions, as he is running for reelection.
:: Understand why the so-called Secret Budget is related to illegality and corruption ::
“Maria defeated the dragon. We have many dragons that she will defeat. The dragon, who is a tempter. The dragon of the pandemic, who has already been defeated. But we have the dragon of hate, who is so harmful, and the dragon of lies. And lies are not from God; they are from Evil. [We have to defeat] the dragon of unemployment, hunger, and incredulity”, he concluded.
Bolsonaro returned to Aparecida despite the veiled criticisms by Orlando Brandes in last year's holiday. At the time, he said that “In order to be a beloved nation, [Brazil] can’t be an armed nation”, making a pun on Bolsonaro’s government slogan and his arms agenda.
“In order to be a beloved nation, [Brazil] needs to be a nation free of hate. To be a beloved nation, the republic [needs to be] free of lies and fake news”, he said. During his speech, Brandes did not mention the Brazilian president, who was about to arrive at the sanctuary. “[In order to be] A beloved nation [Brazil must be] free of corruption”.
Edited by: Nicolau Soares e Flávia Chacon
