After losing the presidential election two days ago, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has not officially conceded the election. However, he has made a brief public statement and is now starting the transition of power to President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro made his first statements regarding the election results and transition of power on Tuesday.
What Bolsonaro said
The New York Times reported that Bolsonaro agreed to a transition of power on Tuesday and gave a two minute speech where he spoke about the protesters.
The first round of the presidential election happened on Oct. 2 and 3, but the protests by Bolsonaro’s supporters began when the run off election results came in on Oct. 30. Bolsonaro had previously made claims of election fraud, though without evidence, CNN reported.
In his speech, Bolsonaro referred to the protests as “the fruit of the indignation and feelings of injustice in the electoral process,” per the Times. Bolsonaro went on to encourage the protesters to be peaceful during the transition of power.
“Peaceful demonstrations will always be welcome,” he said. “But our methods cannot be those of the left, like property invasion, destruction of goods and restrictions on the right to come and go.”
Bolsonaro has not officially conceded the election or congratulated his opponent, but announced the beginning of the transition of power.
“President Bolsonaro has authorized me — when requested, based on the law — to start the transition process,” Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, said after the president’s statement concluded, per the Times.
Some protesters say they will take their cues from Bolsonaro as the transfer of power gets underway.
Protestors over the election results putting up blockades
In protest over the results of the election, many in Brazil have caused disruption in different industries as demonstrators have began to put up blockades.
The blockades first began on Sunday and have caused meat production, fuel distribution and grain imports to be halted, according to Reuters.
The Associated Press reported that major highways that lead to the Sao Paulo international airport were blocked, leading to many flight cancelations.
The AP also reported that in a video on social media a protestor told a reporter, “We won’t stop as long as we don’t have a response from our president.”