Opinion – Walter Casagrande Jr.: There is only one way to defuse the January 1st time bomb: set the election on October 2nd

There are many strange things happening in our Brazil. Yes, ours!

We are living tense moments. And it seems that it gets more tense as the 2nd of October arrives, the date of the 1st round of elections for president, governors, senators and deputies.

I keep trying to imagine what can happen after the long-awaited defeat of this cowardly government that we have.

But I cannot, because it is new for us to try to imagine what these people charged with hatred and intolerance, with weapons in their hands, encouraged and motivated by the Bolsonaro family and their coup supporters, can do to act against democracy.

Will I be able to go to Ibirapuera for a leisurely walk, as I always do, with these angry guys running around?

Will people be able to go to the bakery for a coffee, with terror spreading through the streets?

We have no idea because we’ve never been through this. Democracy began to be attacked when the deputy/captain/perverse/coupist –and so many other things– achieved notoriety by being homophobic, sexist, racist and honoring torturers. And the fact is that no one took any action.

This clan grew. Many who pretended to be democratic then saw the possibility of putting all their prejudices out, beat their chests and shout: “Let’s end democracy.”

What can good people, truly interested in defending humanitarian values, do to change this reality?

I know.

Settle the election for president in the 1st round. Beat this opponent at the polls honestly, without violence. Just press the keys on the urn.

Let’s go vote conscious and sure of what we really want for our country.

Fight for minorities – or even for misrepresented majorities, like blacks and women.

We want education, health, security, culture and so many other things. There’s a lot to recover. There’s a lot to redo. There is also much still to be conquered.

Then we will still have to rebuild several institutions that were weakened by so many attacks, rescue principles and values ​​of our society.

We cannot allow the destruction to continue.

We need to think about the Amazon and the indigenous peoples, who continue to be cowardly murdered in the name of the privilege of half a dozen opportunists and usurpers defended by this government.

Indigenous girls are being raped. There is no way to pretend that we do not see what is happening right under our eyes or we will all be omitting and conniving with this violence.

This current country is not our Brazil.

We have to raise our heads, even knowing that we are targets, without fear of defending our democracy.

We want to wake up on January 1, 2023 breathing and living, not suffocating and surviving.

“Attention, you have to be alert and strong / We don’t have time to fear death.”