BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is calling supporters to attend street rallies alongside Independence Day military parades today, a showing that may gauge support for the far-right leader’s attacks on democratic institutions ahead of an October election.
In the capital Brasilia, security officials are bracing for a crowd of 500,000 people on the central mall, which Bolsonaro will address after overseeing the traditional military parade marking 200 years of Brazil’s independence from Portugal.
Police have reinforced security along the grassy esplanade to prevent any efforts to advance on the Supreme Court, where they threatened to march a year ago in a demonstration inspired by the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Bolsonaro’s attacks against Brazil’s voting system – and the courts that run it – have stirred calls for a military coup from his radical backers. Some fear he is laying the groundwork to claim electoral fraud like his U.S. ally, former President Donald Trump, and reject any victory by leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, which polls show leading the race ahead of an Oct. 2 vote.