Left groups fear political violence in Brazilian election in Lisbon

The fear of episodes of political violence in the election has crossed the Atlantic and, in Lisbon, voters identified with the left have expressed concern about security on election day. The Portuguese capital is the city abroad with the largest number of Brazilians eligible to vote.

Responsible for organizing the voting of the 45,273 registered, the Brazilian consulate reported that the number of private security guards hired for the election day had doubled. The team will consist of ten agents; in 2018, there were five. As in previous years, the Lisbon Public Security Police will also participate in the scheme. Questioned by the report, the corporation did not inform the designated effective.

A supra-party group linked to movements on the Brazilian left, Coletivo Andorinha prepared a letter for the consulate expressing concern and asking for guarantees for the safety of voters. “The environment of political violence surrounding this election is public knowledge, which, in itself, would require greater preparation to guarantee the free exercise of the right to vote in Portugal as well”, says the document.

Citing the expressive number of voters, the collective considers that the measures already announced are insufficient. “Voters also don’t know the rules they must follow when going to polling places, as well as reporting and support channels in case of non-compliance with them.” The letter should be delivered this Tuesday (27).

One of the representatives of the collective, historian Débora Dias defends concrete measures to ensure that voters are not constrained, especially at the entrance and access roads to the polling place. “The climate in 2018 was already very complicated. Everything suggests that, with the current situation, there is a risk of being much worse.”

All Brazilians registered in the Portuguese capital vote in one place, the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, which houses the 118 polling stations. In the 2018 election, when there were less than half of voters (21,195), the first round registered riots: people who identified themselves as supporters of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) gathered at the entrance of the place and at the exit of the subway. In some cases, there were verbal offenses to those who carried material identifying other candidates.

“It’s something that we perceive as organized and financed”, says Dias. Four years ago, Bolsonaro received 64.4% of the vote in Lisbon.

The PT core in the city says it is important that voters do not stop going to the polls due to fear of reprisals. “It is important that people have security guarantees, but also that they are not afraid to vote, that they do not back down”, says the coordinator of the group Pedro Prola. He calls the threats “acts of desperation by someone who knows he will lose the election.”

The collegiate states that it requested an audience with the consul, but the meeting was denied. The agency said that “it will ensure the work of the inspectors, in accordance with the guidelines of the TSE [Tribunal Superior Eleitoral]”.

In a meeting with journalists in late August, Brazil’s consul general in Lisbon, Wladimir Valler Filho, played down security concerns on election day. “Our community is very orderly and rule-aware. I see people who come here really to work and settle down,” he said. According to him, Brazil’s electoral rules also apply in Portugal, including the ban on “agglomeration of people wearing standardized clothing” and the punishment of contempt for poll workers.

Consulate representatives say they are confident that the presence of security will serve as a deterrent to any attempts to break the rules. “The electoral judge, who in this case is the consul, has police power during the elections,” said Valler Filho. “Each case will have to be observed.”

According to Dias, the Coletivo Andorinha has already identified episodes of intimidation of voters of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in Portugal. Informally, some have organized themselves into groups to go to the vote on Sunday (2).

Brazilians are by far the largest foreign community in Portugal: 252,000 are legally resident, according to the most recent data from the SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service); the real amount, however, is even higher, since people with dual Portuguese citizenship or from another country of the European Union are not included in the statistics, as well as those with an irregular migratory situation.