(HorizonPost.com) – A month after Brazil’s presidential election, supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, who still has not conceded the election, have been blocking roads and camping outside of military buildings throughout the country calling for the military to intervene to keep Bolsonaro in office.
Since his election loss, Bolsonaro has only addressed the nation twice to encourage the protesters to continue.
While most of the demonstrations have been peaceful, some of the more hardcore participants have been using tactics that are concerning Brazilian authorities. Mato Grosso state prosecutor José Antônio Borges compared the protesters’ actions to that of guerilla fighters and domestic terrorists.
While Mato Grosso is the center of much of the unrest, road blockades and violence have also been reported in the Brazilian states of Rondonia, Para, Parana, and Santa Catarina.
In Santa Catarina, the protesters blocking highways have used homemade bombs, fireworks, nails, stones, and barricades made of burned tires.
Most of the violent resistance has been taking place at night by “extremely violent and coordinated hooded men,” according to the federal highway police.
Since October’s election, Bolsonaro has been out of public view while his daily agenda remains largely empty, prompting some to wonder whether he is pouting or plotting. The demonstrators who have been camping outside of military bases throughout Brazil believe they have Bolsonaro’s tacit support.
Meanwhile, last month, Addison Basurto, a blogger from the rightwing blog The National File accused a member of the US Embassy in Brazil of “attacking” him and his bodyguard while he was in Brazil covering the ongoing protests.
Basurto claims that Miguel Contreras from the US Embassy along with an FBI agent “attacked” him after he asked them to return his backpack.
He claims Contreras “verbally” and physically abused him, prompting his bodyguard to push Contreras to the ground. Basurto then claimed to have held Contreras on the ground until he agreed to give him back his backpack.
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