The protests began after almost three months of a very troubled period for Brazil. Brazil’s peculiarity, it is said, is that it is one of the few countries in the world that need to fight two viruses, Covid-19 and its own president, Jair Messias Bolsonaro.
Known for his racist statements, LGBT phobia, and armed militia ties in Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro has been the single biggest obstacle in Brazil’s fight to defeat Covid-19. He has fired two health ministers in the last few months, and the country now has the world’s second highest coronavirus-related death rate.
The nation is not even close to visualizing the end of the crisis, which has been approaching its peak in recent weeks. Bolsonaro challenges many of the country’s democratic institutions and flirts with the possibility of an authoritarian regime.
The demonstrations are organized on three main fronts: “Vidas Negras Importam,” which is inspired by the US Black Lives Matter movement; the Povo Sem Medo association, which has the Homeless Workers Movement as its main force; and the soccer gangs, who, in a resurgence of their 1970s activities during the dictatorship, have played a central role in defending democracy and fighting injustices.
