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 US Elections 2022
Bolsonaro breaks silence without
acknowledging defeat
 Published

3 minutes ago

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Media caption,
Watch: Tear gas is fired at Bolsonaro's supporters as roadblocks take place across the country
By Vanessa Buschschlüter
BBC News Online Latin America editor, Rio
Brazil's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has broken the silence he had maintained
since being defeated in Sunday's presidential election.
He thanked voters who had cast their ballots for him but did not acknowledge defeat.
But he did not contest the result either, as some had feared he would.
His chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, spoke after Mr Bolsonaro's brief statement saying that the
"process of transition" of power would begin.
Mr Bolsonaro said that he had always stayed within the framework of the constitution and
would continue to respect it.
He did not mention Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his arch rival who narrowly beat him on
Sunday, at all.
In an apparent reference to the hundreds of roadblocks which his hardcore supporters have
erected across the country, he said that "peaceful demonstrations" would always be welcome.
The head of Brazil's Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, had said earlier on Tuesday that
there was "a risk to national security" and ordered that the roads be cleared.
But police have struggled to remove all the roadblocks, of which there are still more than
250.
In a reference to the motto on Brazil's flag, Mr Bolsonaro also said that "we're for order and
progress". And he repeated the values he says he and his party stand for: "God, fatherland,
family and freedom".
Disruption and tension
Tension has been on the rise since the election result was announced.
Dozens of flights in and out of São Paulo's international airport had to be cancelled after a
key access road was cut off by protesters who refuse to recognise the result.
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,
Kneeling protesters disrupted the access to the airport in São Paulo
Blockages have been reported in all but two states, causing considerable disruption and
affecting food supply chains.
Travellers on busses reported running low on water and food as they spent hours stuck in
queues.
The blockades started shortly after Brazil's electoral authorities announced a narrow win for
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the run-off of the presidential election.
With all the votes counted, Lula had 50.9% of the valid votes against Mr Bolsonaro's 49.1%.
The result was announced just before 20:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Sunday.
It is customary for the defeated candidate to congratulate the winner and no previous
outgoing president has taken this long to contact their successor.
Normally very active on social media, Mr Bolsonaro has also remained silent on all his social
platforms.
On Tuesday, before Mr Bolsonaro had spoken, the group representing highway police said
the president's silence "was encouraging a section of his followers to block Brazilian roads".
Combative statements from the president in the past - such as that "only God" could remove
him from office - meant that there had been a tense wait for him to appear in public.
Before the election, he had repeatedly cast unfounded doubts on the voting system.
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,
Since he lost, President Bolsonaro has only been spotted from afar while in Alvorada Palace
Close allies of Mr Bolsonaro however have congratulated Lula on his win, and the powerful
speaker of the lower house of Congress, Arthur Lira, said that "the will of the majority, as it
is expressed in the polls, can never be contested".
Congratulations also poured in from across the world, with US President Biden saying the
win came "following free, fair and credible elections".
Analysts have noted that when Mr Nogueira spoke just after Mr Bolsonaro's statement, he did
refer to "President Lula", which some take to mean that Mr Bolsonaro's team accepts the
outgoing president's defeat.
But others point out that the correct label should have been "President-elect Lula" to show
that Lula - who served two terms as president between 2003 and 2010 - has been elected
again.
Members of Mr Bolsonaro's government have also been in touch with Lula's team to start
working on the transition of power ahead of Lula's swearing-in on 1 January 2023.
And while Mr Bolsonaro is looking increasingly isolated politically, hardcore supporters
appear emboldened by his failure to acknowledge defeat.
"We will not accept losing what we have gained, we want what is written on our flag, 'order
and progress'," one protester in Rio de Janeiro told AFP news agency.
"We will not accept the situation as it is," the man added.
President-elect Lula, meanwhile, has been holding phone calls with world leaders, including
US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz.
He also had an in-person meeting with Argentine President Alberto Fernández.
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