September 7th: The Greatest Crime
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro just appropriated Brazil’s September 7, Independence Day holiday for his own political purposes.
If he had appropriated Rio’s Cristo Redentor statue or Petrobras state petroleum company, the crime would have been less egregious.
September 7th is supposed to be a great civic festival that includes all Brazilians, regardless of party colors or ideological preferences. But this year, it will will be an exclusive manifestation of the bolsonaristas in support of their “Myth” and, even worse, in defiance of or even attacking democratic institutions.
There are a lot of warnings about avoiding the riots, but the big riot has already happened without a single person taking to the streets. By appropriating Independence Day, Bolsonaro just broke the Constitution, the law, tradition and the rules of pluralist democracy.