Bolsonaro’s trip to NY has a barbecue with supporters, protests and an empty agenda

Amid the empty agenda of meetings with international leaders in New York, where he traveled to address the 77th UN General Assembly, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) found time to have lunch with supporters at a steakhouse and for a videoconference with businessmen from Brazil. .

Bolsonaro spent less than 24 hours in New York. He arrived at the hotel on Monday night (19) and left for the airport around 15:20, local time (16:20 GMT), this Tuesday (20).

Dozens of supporters, who organized caravans from other US cities, awaited him at every public appearance, but there were also protests against his presence.

On Monday night, even before the president’s arrival, about 60 supporters argued with protesters who went to the hotel where he would stay carrying banners reading “Brazilians against fascism” and “51 real estate in cash”. The groups clashed, with bolsonaristas singing the national anthem and shouting “go to Venezuela”, to which they heard “genocidal” and “tchutchuca do centrão”.

At dawn, gigantic images of the president were projected on the side of the UN building with expressions such as “Brazilian shame”. The intervention was an initiative of the US Network for Democracy in Brazil, which brings together American academics, activists and civil society organizations.

“Our action communicates to the world that Bolsonaro is supported by a system of fake news to advance his personal project of power and enrichment, not a national project for the development of Brazil,” said Marina Adams, organizer of the group. “The idea is to resume and subvert the platform he has made of international institutions.” The group collected funds for the action through donations from its members.

In another similar intervention – this one still anonymous -, the top of the Empire State Building also received projections criticizing the president, with terms such as “chutchuca do centro” and “brochonaro”.

On Tuesday morning, the president left the hotel less than ten minutes before the start of the General Assembly and did not appear for an agenda that he would have before the event with Secretary-General António Guterres.

He was expected to leave the hotel at 8:20 am, when he actually appeared at the entrance and spoke to supporters. After that, however, Bolsonaro returned to the hotel and only reappeared at 8:45 am, stopping again to meet supporters and the press. The president recorded videos and took pictures with a group and, to journalists, belittled the polls that show him in second place in the electoral race.

“They’re worthless,” he said. Asked what he would do if he lost the election, he declared: “I’m not going to talk about hypotheses, we’re going to win in the first round.”

Bolsonaro arrived at the UN headquarters while Guterres was already speaking. During the president’s speech, there was a new protest in the streets of New York, with a group of seven leaders from Apib (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil) marching to the Brazilian Consulate. The act was accompanied by indigenous people from other countries and activists.

“Bolsonaro, how much do you earn to let our forests burn?”, said the chorus, led in English, alternating with criticism of the dismantling at Funai, conflicts in indigenous territories and the explosion of deforestation. “The president came to lie at the UN, so we went to the consulate to deny him,” said Samela Sateré-Mawé, from Apib’s communication.

With the previous agenda cleared, Bolsonaro and Guterres briefly met just for a late-morning photo, after two meetings the Brazilian had with the leaders of Poland and Ecuador. The government argued that the short period in the US made bilateral calls difficult, but Bolsonaro received supporters at the Fogo de Chão steakhouse around noon. The place was packed and not everyone was able to get in. Outside, campaign jingles played over speakers.

A Brazilian woman who was walking down the street shouted “Out, Bolsonaro” and received a series of curses. The president was accompanied by ministers Ciro Nogueira (Civil House), Fábio Faria (Communications), Carlos França (Foreign Affairs) and Joaquim Leite (Environment), in addition to the head of the Strategic Affairs Secretariat, Admiral Flávio Rocha, the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and Pastor Silas Malafaia — the latter with the president from London.

Inside, a saxophonist who had already accompanied the cheering at the hotel door played for supporters. The president sat at a table in the back, with Jovem Pan commentator Paulo Figueiredo — grandson of João Figueiredo, the last president of the military dictatorship — and Geralda Gonçalves, aka Geigê, who spoke with support groups in the US.

Jason Miller, a former spokesman for Donald Trump, also attended the event. Founder of the social network Gettr, social media promoted by the former American president and by conservative exponents, the businessman has closely followed the Brazilian election and was in Rio de Janeiro during the September 7 events.

With the hall taken over by supporters, Bolsonaro was comfortable and smiling and even climbed into a chair to give a speech — repeating usual attacks on the left, with criticism of the MST. According to him, the success of his government can be measured in comparison “with other Latin American countries and with our Europe”.

The president also praised his ministers and said that “some did not work out”, saying that supporters “know their names” and that the group will go “into the trash of history” -Bolsonaro made disaffections between former members of the Esplanade, including Sergio Moro and Luiz Henrique Mandetta.

After an hour, Bolsonaro walked out the back door of the steakhouse, frustrating supporters waiting there, and walked to the hotel. In the meantime, part of his entourage was received with enthusiasm, as was Malafaia, and part circulated without public recognition —Joaquim Leite went to a store at the Museum of Modern Art without any approach.

At the hotel, the president chatted via video with businessmen from the Brazilian supermarket sector and left around 3:20 pm towards the airport.

NYPD agents accompanied their supporters. Security contrasted with the team of other leaders. The Ecuadorian Guillermo Lasso, staying at the same place, arrived on Monday night in a very discreet way.