Johannesburg - The South African Communist Party (SACP) has called for the US to extradite former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in order to achieve peace and stability in Brazil.
Bolsonaro was defeated by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the recent elections. Peace in the South American country has been affected after pro-Bolsonaro supporters attempted to stage a coup and overthrow Lula just days after he was sworn in as the new president.
Dr Alex Mashilo, of the SACP, said the party remained in solidarity with Lula and the people of Brazil, who voted for change when they took to the polls in December 2022.
Mashilo said the SACP condemned the acts of right-wing elements who wanted to see war and terror be the order of the day in Brazil.
"The South African Communist Party (SACP) conveys its message of solidarity with the people of Brazil in defence of their country from right-wing elements hell-bent on plunging the country into a crisis against the widely accepted outcomes of democratic elections.
"The SACP strongly condemns the right-wing elements who invaded Brazil’s Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace and also caused disruption at the inauguration of Brazil’s democratically elected new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The right-wing elements seem emboldened to spread their terror across the country," Mashilo said.
He said the message from the people of Brazil had been clear –they wanted change, as well as peace and stability – which was why they voted for the return of the ousted and jailed President Lula, who won the elections convincingly.
"The election of President Lula, which has been endorsed by the entire world as free and fair, has swung the country back to a pro-people and pro-peace trajectory.
"Jair Bolsonaro, the ex-president who lost the Brazilian presidential election to Lula, fled Brazil on the eve of Lula’s inauguration. He is reportedly in Florida, the United States – the same enclave where the terrorists who have been hell-bent on destroying Cuba and its sovereignty have found right-wing solidarity and accommodation.
“During his presidency, Bolsonaro was a Brazilian replica of Donald Trump on many issues. This was typified by his deplorable response to the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, in which Brazil, like the United States, unnecessarily lost countless lives. In true Trump fashion, the man refused to peacefully hand over power to his democratically elected successor."
The SACP said Bolsonaro’s supporters had staged the recent coup and insurrection attempts against Lula in the past week, in a bid to place the country into turmoil.
"It is Bolsonaro’s supporters who are rehashing Trump’s January 6th in Brazil, causing violent destabilisation, which might as well be aimed at an undemocratic change of government in reaction to democratic election outcomes.
“In 2021, on January 6, Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol after he lost the imperialist United States’ presidential election. The SACP reiterates its unwavering condemnation of imperialism, not to mention United States imperialism, regardless of who wins its domestic elections."
News reports coming out of the US indicate that Bolsonaro is in hospital. CNN reported on Tuesday that the recently defeated president tweeted a picture of himself at a Florida hospital in Orlando.
The Star