The governors of several Brazilian states have decided to mobilize the Military Police, which reports directly to the regions, in the face of apparent federal inaction to remove roadblocks imposed by supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro following the far-right politician’s defeat in Sunday’s elections.
A Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, has endorsed that state security forces can be deployed to collaborate in the tasks that, theoretically, correspond to the Federal Road Police (PRF), which depends on the central government.
Shortly after this permission became known, there have been a succession of messages from governors who have opted to take measures on their own. The governor of Sao Paulo, Rodrigo Garcia, called the blockade «inadmissible», while the head of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, called for «respecting the result of the ballot boxes», reports the portal G1.
The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, has also pronounced himself in the same sense: «I have already asked our security forces to adopt the necessary measures to clear any road or highway blocked by the demonstrations».
Protests have been going on since former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Sunday’s elections, but the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, has not yet spoken out to acknowledge his defeat or at least urge his followers to respect democratic channels.
