This Tuesday, October 18, Jair Bolsonaro was visiting Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais. The campaigning Brazilian president traveled to the city where he was stabbed four years earlier. Ten days before the second round, he wants to convince the undecided despite the mistrust of the students who came to demonstrate against the president and the budget cuts in education.
With our correspondent in Brazil, Sarah Cozzolino
Given losing in the polls against former President LulaJair Bolsonaro returned to the crime scene where he received, four years ago, a stab, already at a campaign event. This is where Maria Adélia arranged to meet her friends. She recalls the scene: I cried a lot, prayed for him, cried. If he is alive today, it is the work of God. God wanted this miracle “.
An episode that helped build the Bolsonaro myth. The president repeated at the launch of his campaign in August that he was born a second time in this city. Esther, in her sixties, sees him as a saviour: “ It was with Bolsonaro that we realized that Brazil had untapped potential. Brazil can be a great power, and that’s what we dream of “.
► To listen: Presidential in Brazil: the challenges of the second round
Reverse
Four years later, the city of Juiz de Fora voted overwhelmingly for former President Lula in the first round. But according to Israel, that is changing. ” I have already discussed with several undecided. Among those who voted for Simone Tebet, 80% will vote for Bolsonaro. And now, with the support of the governor, we will reverse the trend, God willing. “, he says, proudly wearing his jersey of the Seleçao.
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Israel came with his whole family, and he assures that if Jair Bolsonaro does not win the election, many will protest in the streets. But there are already demonstrations in Juiz de Fora. They are hostile to the Brazilian president, and led by students who denounce the budget cuts of the Bolsonaro government.
Felipe, 19, is a film student. He is holding a sign that reads “ education is not a cost but an investment “. ” Without education and without universities, we are nothing and the president constantly opposes this sector, so we must oppose him “, he shares.
In four years of the Bolsonaro government, Laís has also seen the impact of budget cuts in scholarships or budgets at his public university: “ I work on the environmental impact of greenhouse gases, and there are experiments that we could not do for lack of budget “.
Irrecoverable environmental damage
Like her, Jonas is a student in ecology and a doctoral candidate specializing in climate change. According to him, the environmental damage caused during the government of Jair Bolsonaro is irrecoverable: “ We can no longer lose a centimeter of Amazonian forest. We are reaching a stage where the situation is only getting worse. When Jair Bolsonaro encourages deforestation in the Amazon, he directly promotes desertification in the southeast “.
Even if they are convinced that former President Lula will do better than Jair Bolsonaro, the two students regret that the Amazon is not at the heart of the campaign.