Violence flares at anti-Bolsonaro protest in Sao Paulo

Protesters marched in several cities across Brazil against far-right Brazilian president-elect Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday night.

In Sao Paulo, several thousand marched along the central Paulista Avenue holding signs against fascism. Guilherme Boulos, former vice-presidential candidate for the Workers’ Party ticket, which lost the run-off on Sunday, defended their right to march.

“A president has to respect the liberty of demonstration, of expression. He has to respect the opposition and not say that it will lead to prison or exile,” he said.

Bolsonaro’s victory moved Brazil, the world’s fourth-largest democracy, sharply to the right after four consecutive elections in which candidates from the left-leaning Workers’ Party won.

Like other right-leaning leaders who have risen to power around the globe, Bolsonaro built his popularity on a mixture of often outrageous or offensive comments and hardline positions.