Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, after 40 days of silence, has returned to speak to express his “soul pain” gained after the electoral defeat with Lula at the end of October. “I’ve been silent for almost 40 days. It hurts, it hurts my soul. I’ve always been a happy person among you, even risking my life in the crowd,” the far-right president told supporters outside the Alvorada Palace. The narrow defeat in the presidential elections against Lula on October 30, 50.9% to 49.1%, still hurts a lot.
Bolsonaro attended only one official event, on Nov. 26, at a military school. After their candidate’s defeat, thousands of Bolsonarists blocked roads and demonstrated in front of military barracks to ask the army to prevent Lula from taking power on January 1. Meanwhile, the new president has already nominated five future ministers: Fernando Haddad for Finance, Mauro Vieira for Foreign Affairs, Flavio Dino for Justice, Rui Costa for the Casa Civil (halfway between the Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff) and Josè Mucio Monteiro for Defence.