Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Brazil on Independence Day, brandishing anti-democratic slogans in a show of support for President Jair Bolsonaro.
During a speech in the capital Brasilia, Bolsonaro himself threatened the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in a speech to demonstrators who had travelled to the city from all over the country.
"Either the head of this authority keeps him [Alexandre de Moraes] under control, or this authority will suffer what we don't want," Bolsonaro said on Tuesday, addressing the president of the Supreme Court, Luiz Fux, and referring to Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Moraes is responsible for an inquiry into the funding and organization of acts targeting democracy and democratic institutions. He has already ordered the arrest of allies of the president, and militants.
Bolsonaro and his allies have repeatedly attacked democratic institutions and on Monday evening, some of his supporters broke through barriers to the government quarter.
Attendees at Tuesday's demonstrations carried banners and posters that threatened the Supreme Court and Congress.
Bolsonaro stoked tensions ahead of the Independence Day rallies with authoritarian threats that observers described as attempts to mobilize his supporters.
Bolsonaro's supporters turned out to rally in more than a dozen cities, starting early on Tuesday. However, demonstrations opposing the president were also held in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, among other cities.
Approval of Bolsonaro's administration has continuously fallen over the course of the pandemic. In early July, 51 per cent of respondents opposed the president's policies in a poll conducted by the Datafolha institute, the worst result since Bolsonaro took office in 2019.
Source: DPA
