SAO PAULO: Thousands of people took to the streets in Brazil Saturday to protest the candidacy of presidential front-runner Jair Bolsonaro, shouting “Not him!” which has become the rallying cry against the far-right former army captain.
In Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and 24 other cities, large crowds filled avenues and squares a week before the Oct. 28 second-round vote polls suggest Bolsonaro is likely to win.
Bolsonaro, who has angered many Brazilians by praising the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship and making comments offensive to gays, women and blacks, won the first round of voting on Oct. 7, getting 46 percent against 29 for Fernando Haddad of the Workers’ Party.
In front of the Sao Paulo Art Museum, people beat drums and waved gay pride flags as they denounced Bolsonaro. Many carried cardboard signs bearing Haddad’s name and photo.
Tiago Silva, a 27-year-old philosophy teacher, said Bolsonaro “represents the fascism, intolerance and violence we are seeing in Europe and in the United States.”
“It will be a disaster if he wins — and it looks like he will,” he added.
Vinicius Bento, a 27-year-old lawyer, said voting for Haddad is “the only way to stop Bolsonaro and his racist, misogynist and fascists views from reaching the presidency.”
“We have to get Haddad elected,” he said, acknowledging that he didn’t vote for him in the first round because he’d “lost faith” in the Workers’ Party as a result of the corruption scandals it has been involved with. The left-leaning party governed Brazil between 2003 and 2016, and has been dogged by the massive “Carwash” corruption investigation.
Bolsonaro has appealed to many Brazilians weary of crime and corruption by promising a violent crackdown on drug gangs and other criminals, and by highlighting the corruption that took place under past Workers’ Party administrations. He has also promised a return to “traditional Brazilian values.”
Haddad, the hand-picked successor to jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has promised to bring back the boom times Brazil experienced under da Silva, fight inequality, invest more in education and improve state services.
Thousands rally against leading, far-right Brazil candidate
Thousands rally against leading, far-right Brazil candidate
- The left-leaning party governed Brazil between 2003 and 2016, and has been dogged by the massive “Carwash” corruption investigation
Starting anew: Indonesians in disaster-struck Sumatra hold Christmas mass
- Many in the congregation are still sheltering at evacuation sites after the disaster wreaked havoc on the island four weeks ago
SOUTH TAPANULI: At a church in Sumatra, dozens of worshippers sang hymns at a Christmas mass, gathered together for their first service since deadly floods swept the Indonesian island.
The Angkola Protestant Church, in the hard-hit South Tapanuli district, was festooned on Wednesday with balloons and simple Christmas decorations.
Outside, the street leading to the building was buried under mounds of debris and foliage.
Many in the congregation are still sheltering at evacuation sites after the disaster wreaked havoc on the island four weeks ago.
Churchgoer Krismanto Nainggolan said this year’s Christmas service was “different,” even as he noted joy in the bittersweet moment.
“The feelings are mixed. Every word of the pastor’s sermon made us want to cry,” he told AFP after the Christmas mass.
“But the spirit of Christmas... gave us strength,” he added.
Krismanto lost his house in the flooding, while many of his neighbors were killed.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, 1,129 people died, and more than 170 others are still missing.
While the annual monsoon season often brings heavy rain to Indonesia, this month’s deluge was among the worst disasters to strike Sumatra since a magnitude-9.1 earthquake triggered a massive tsunami in 2004.
In South Tapanuli, churchgoer Mea Rosmawati Zebua said she had not expected to be able to celebrate Christmas this year.
“In past years, Christmas was a routine. Now, (we are) very grateful because God still gives us the breath of life,” the 54-year-old told AFP.
While Christmas mass is typically held in the evening, the Angkola church moved its service to Wednesday afternoon ahead of rain forecast in the evening, pastor Yansen Roberto Ritonga said.
To prepare for the first service since the disaster, the church had to remove towering heaps of mud that had been washed inside.
Soldiers and police had helped clear the debris and driftwood.
On Wednesday afternoon, a man rang the church’s bell before the pastor’s entrance, marking the start of the mass.
Around 30 worshippers, each of them holding a lit candle, sung Christmas hymns.
Yansen said this year’s Christmas served as a moment of “reflection” for the congregation.
Churchgoer Krismanto said that despite the widespread damage and the personal cost of the disaster, he chose to see it as a new beginning.
“Our hopes depend solely on God because we are now starting over... our lives are starting anew,” he said.
