: Political Violence Is Surging Ahead of Brazil’s Election on Sunday #WorldNEWS As Brazil enters the final stretch of its campaign season, a spate of politically motivated death threats, physical attacks,

@newsMNC

Posted in: #WorldNEWS

Political Violence Is Surging Ahead of Brazil’s Election on Sunday #WorldNEWS
As Brazil enters the final stretch of its campaign season, a spate of politically motivated death threats, physical attacks, and killings across the country are raising fears of more widespread violence after the Oct. 2 election.
Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as “Lula,” has widened his lead over right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in recent polls in the most polarized election since the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1985. While violence against political candidates is not unprecedented in Brazilian elections—Bolsonaro himself was nearly killed after being stabbed by a mentally ill man during the 2018 campaign—officials and analysts say this election season has seen an unusual uptick in attacks between supporters and violent threats against public officials, ministers, and poll workers.


Cases of politically motivated violence against candidates, officials and government workers have spiked 23% since 2020, according to the Observatory of Political and Electoral Violence in Brazil. There have been at least 214 such cases this year, a number that includes 45 alleged homicides, according to their analysis.
Da Silva, a left-wing former union leader who served two terms as president from 2003 to 2010, has been appearing under tight security and wears a bulletproof vest to public events. His scheduled campaign kickoff event at an engine factory in August had to be cancelled due to security concerns raised by federal police. Bolsonaro, a right-wing former army captain, has also been wearing a bulletproof vest. Unlike in his 2018 campaign, he has been limiting his interactions with supporters in the crowd at his rallies, who are patted down before they can approach the stage.
Bolsonaro, who has already questioned the integrity of the election and cited unfounded claims of voter fraud, has warned that he will only leave office if he is killed, jailed, or victorious. ” On the campaign trail, he has told supporters to brace for a fight and declared that “if necessary, we will go to war. ” His rhetoric has alarmed international officials and political violence experts, who warn of a “Stop the Steal 2. 0. ”
“This is not so common in Brazil,” Feliciano Guimarães, the academic director at the Brazilian Center of International Relations (CEBRI) in Rio de Janeiro, says about the recent uptick in attacks. “Although you have always had political violence near elections, it was very fragmented and more about local issues than national motivations. ” And beyond the alarming trend of recent weeks, he says, “I think the challenge is yet to come.

Latest stock market news Twitter alternate of India

Flash it Bury this

0 Reactions   React

Replies (0)

Login to post a comment!