Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Neo-Fascist Bolsonaro Followers Attack People Throughout Brazil

Bolsonaro’s ultra-right rhetoric has led to political assassinations and violence perpetrated by his followers.

Esquerda Diário

October 18, 2018
Facebook Twitter Share

The misogynistic, racist, and homophobic rhetoric of the ultra-right Brazilian candidate Bolsonaro has turned from words into deeds after last week’s election. The 63-year-old capoeira teacher, Romoaldo Rosário da Costa, better known as Moa do Katendê, was murdered with 12 stab wounds on Monday night in a bar of Salvador, in the north-eastern state of Bahía. The perpetrator was identified as 36-year-old Paulo Sérgio Ferreira de Santana, who admitted that the attack was politically motivated.

Ferreira de Santana, like many other Bolsonaro supporters was emboldened by the first round victory for the right wing pro-dictatorship candidate. According to eyewitnesses, Ferreira de Santana was arguing with the bar’s owner and Moa do Katendê, both open PT voters. The murderer went home, grabbed a fish-cleaning knife, and returned to the bar, where he stabbed the capoeira teacher 12 times.

Moa do Katendê was one of the most important capoeira teachers in the country, a historical founder of the Afoxé Badauê Afro bloc in Salvador and a black culture activist. Musician Caetano Veloso posted a video after finding out about the murder: “He was a good friend and one of the central figures in the growth of the Afro groups of Salvador. No more fascism! We cannot allow things like this to happen!”

On Monday, the sister of Marielle Franco, left councilor and human rights activist murdered in Rio seven months ago, was in a mall with her two-year-old daughter when two men approached her (one of whom was wearing a Bolsonaro t-shirt) and began to yell at her to “get out of here, you left-wing whore! Get out, you feminist!” On Tuesday, in the Paraná Federal University, 10 youth attacked a student wearing an MST (Landless Workers’ Movement) cap by throwing bottles at him as they shouted “Bolsonaro is here!”

In the city of Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul al sur de Brasil, a 19-year-old teenage girl was attacked by three men, all Bolsonaro voters, as she stepped out of a bus. The girl was wearing a shirt with the HT #EleNão (“not him”), and the attackers harassed and violently beat her for wearing that slogan. As if this was not enough for them, the group of men marked a swastika on her abdomen with a Swiss Army knife.

Emboldened by Bolsonaro’s homophobic discourse, bigots have carried out attacks against LGBT people in several parts of the country. The day after the elections, in the bathrooms of the French-Brazilian School of Rio de Janeiro, a graffiti appeared reading “Dykes are going to die.” That same Monday, a transsexual woman was hospitalised after getting beat up by Bolsonaro followers.

Professor Renato Zamora recalled how one of his female students had been attacked in the subway: “Some whacko yelling ‘Bolsonaro’ pushed her to the tracks, but luckily she was rescued.” Publicist Eloy Capucho reported to the Military Police of Manaos a death threat from an Uber driver when he learned that Capucho was gay and had voted for Haddad.

Just one day after the first electoral round, these attacks—such as the one the teenage girl of Porto Alegre suffered and the criminal murder of Maestro Moa—show that the far-right discourse of Jair Bolsonaro is designed to increase the repression and persecution of those who struggle against racism, sexism, and homophobia.

The Brazilian election this year has been manipulated at every step by the judicial power, overseen by the army, and supported by the mass media. The candidates who defend Temer’s pro-coup, right-wing program have gained popularity, making it urgent to struggle against the rise of the far right that attacks the rights of workers and minorities and aims to privatize all national resources.

The #EleNão movement, spearheaded by women, shows that there is strength to resist the advance of the far right. The independent mobilisation of workers, youth, black people, women, LGBT people, the landless and homeless workers in the streets, with strikes and occupations, is the only social movement that, led by workers, can truly stop the advance of authoritarianism and the far right.

Facebook Twitter Share

Latin America

Alfredo Cisneros, Mexican land defender from Michoacán, stands in a forest. He is the fifth land defender to be murdered in the country in 2023.

Alfredo Cisneros: Fifth Mexican Environmentalist Assassinated in 2023

Alfredo Cisneros Madrigal, indigenous leader and forest defender in Michoacán, Mexico was murdered on February 23. He is the fifth environmental defender to be murdered in the country so far this year.

Axomalli Villanueva

March 13, 2023

Lula Visits Biden to Repair Relations with U.S. Imperialism

Brazilian President Lula's U.S. visit shows that he's focused on maintaining the interests of Brazilian capital while aligning with U.S. imperialism and being careful not to alienate Beijing.

Caio Reis

February 16, 2023

SOUTHCOM Chief Aims to Increase Imperialist Plunder of Latin America’s Resources

U.S. Southern Command Chief Laura Richardson has expressed interest in lithium and other natural resources in South America. It shows the country’s commitment to corporate profits at the expense of workers, Indigenous people, and the environment.

Luigi Morris

January 26, 2023

The Peruvian Uprising: Massive Protests Demand the Fall of the Coup Regime and a Constituent Assembly

Peru has erupted in a massive uprising demanding that President Dina Boluarte resign, that the current Congress be shut down, and that a new constitution be established. The protests are the culmination of years of political oppression of the country’s indigenous communities, drastic poverty rates and precarity for Peru’s workers and poor, and a political regime that continues the legacy of Alberto Fujimori’s dictatorship.

MOST RECENT

20 Years Since the U.S. Invasion of Iraq: A Reflection from a Socialist in the Heart of Imperialism

A Left Voice member and anti-war activist reflects on the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and how he learned to hate U.S. imperialism.

Sam Carliner

March 20, 2023

It is Possible to Win: The Pension Reform Crisis in France

A French socialist reflects on the way forward after Macron invites Article 49.3 to pass pension reform.

Paul Morao

March 20, 2023

“We are your economy”: Trans Youth Walkout and Speak Out

The following is a speech by a young trans person as part of an action called for by NYC Youth for Trans Rights.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

March 20, 2023
Three tables full of food, with signs hung above them. One says "The People's Pantry: FREE FOOD." Banners hung from the tables say "Free CUNY" and "Cop Free School Zone"

CUNY Administration Cracks Down on Student and Worker-Run Food Pantry

Students and workers opened "The People's Pantry" seven weeks ago as part of a broader anti-austerity campaign at CUNY, leading to several direct confrontations with the administration.

Olivia Wood

March 19, 2023