Tens of thousands of supporters of outgoing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro refusing to recognize the election of his successor Lula demonstrated on Wednesday (November 2) in front of military command sites, demanding army intervention.

Bolsonarists were also still blocking roads on Wednesday in more than half of the states, even if the roadblocks were fewer.

This day of mobilization was marred by a violent episode: on a roadblock near Mirassol, in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast), a motorist hit demonstrators, injuring at least seven according to the CNN channel.

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The former left-wing president, 77, returns to power for a third term, twelve years after leaving it.

A victory narrowly won with 50.9% of the vote against the outgoing far-right head of state, Jair Bolsonaro.

© france24

Some bolsonarists proved to be threatening towards journalists, including an AFP team, in particular in Sao Paulo, where the number of demonstrators had started to drop at the end of the afternoon.

 These protests took place the day after the speech by Jair Bolsonaro, ex-captain of the army nostalgic for the military dictatorship (1964-85), narrowly beaten in the presidential election on Sunday.

He broke a heavy two-day silence on Tuesday to say he would "respect" the Constitution and gave the green light to the transition with his leftist successor Lula.

But he also delivered a message received as encouragement by his supporters: "Peaceful demonstrations will always be welcome."

According to him, they are "the fruit of indignation and a feeling of injustice regarding the way the electoral process unfolded", a sentence taken up on Wednesday by his deputy son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, in a post on Instagram which showed an aerial view of the protest in Rio de Janeiro.

"Fraudulent Election"

In Sao Paulo, thousands of Bolsonarists demonstrated in front of the military command of the Southeast, demanding an intervention of the army with cries of "federal intervention immediately", noted an AFP-TV journalist.

A similar demonstration outside the army headquarters in Brasilia also brought together thousands of protesters, according to an AFP photographer, some chanting "civil resistance".

Same scenario in Rio de Janeiro, where thousands of demonstrators sang in front of the military command: "Lula, thief, your place is in prison", according to an AFP-TV journalist.

"We are asking (...) for military intervention so that our country does not become communist," Rodrigo da Mata, a 41-year-old salesman, told AFP-TV in Sao Paulo.

"We do not recognize the result of the election because we know it was fraudulent. Like everything the PT does," he added of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Workers' Party.

"We will stay here until the generals take action," said Sebastiao Ramalho, a 70-year-old reserve soldier.

Nazi salutes were filmed during protests in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

According to the UOL news site, demonstrations in favor of an intervention by the army took place on Wednesday in front of military buildings in 11 states (out of 27) of the country.

 "It's no use crying, we've lost the game," vice-president Hamilton Mourao, who has often displayed his spirit of independence from the head of state, told the daily O Globo.

Threat of shortage

The number of roadblocks fell by almost half on Wednesday: the Federal Highway Police (PRF) announced that they had recorded some 146 roadblocks, against 271 the day before.

"We cannot use the methods of the left, (...) which prevent freedom of movement," President Bolsonaro said on Tuesday.

In Sao Paulo, the police had to use tear gas and water cannons to restore traffic on the Castello Branco road, the main road linking the economic heart of Brazil to the center-west of the country, the center of the economy. agribusiness.

The dams have caused supply difficulties in Brazil, which relies almost exclusively on road transport for the transport of goods and food products.

The National Confederation of Industries warned on Tuesday of the "risk of shortages and lack of fuel" if the roadblocks were not quickly lifted.

The G1 information site for its part estimated that 70% of supermarkets were already seeing supply shortages of certain products.

With AFP

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