BRASILIA, Dec 31 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The defeated president of ultra-right tendency Jair Bolsonaro traveled to the United States and ruled out handing over the presidential sash to the elected ruler of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Jan 1.
Before leaving for the city of Miami, Florida in an official plane, Bolsonaro broke his silence since he lost at the polls to Lula on Oct 30 and called on his supporters to stand firm against the future progressive government. He was accompanied by advisers and first lady Michelle Bolsonaro.
He alluded to the events of recent days in the country and pointed out that ‘nothing justifies the attempted terrorist act’ in Brasilia, when a man planted an explosive in a fuel truck near the federal capital’s airport on Dec 24.
Likewise, Bolsonaro also justified the camps of supporters in front of Army headquarters in cities of the country.
He said they are a reaction to an electoral process that ‘did not have all the transparency’ and pushed ‘a mass of people to take to the streets and protest’.
He insisted that it is a peaceful, orderly protest, that respects the laws and are ‘a spontaneous manifestation of the people’.
The forecast is that Bolsonaro will spend a vacation period in the United States.
Initially, he must remain out of the country for at least three months.
Early Sunday afternoon Lula will be sworn in and with the ex-military man’s decision to leave the country, there will not be the usual act of passing the previous president’s sash for whoever takes office. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA