MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro insists September 7 demonstrations will be an ultimatum to the Supreme Court

“If someone wants to play outside the four lines [of the Constitution], we will show that we can assert the will and strength of the people,” Bolsonaro said.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro Friday insisted he would give his life for his country and that next Tuesday's Independence Day's protests will be an “ultimatum” to the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

“The message that you, the Brazilian people, give in the streets next Tuesday, September 7, will be an ultimatum for those two people,” said Bolsonaro during a ceremony in the State of Bahia.

“We do not criticize institutions or the [branches of Government], but we cannot admit that one or two people use their power to give a new direction to our country,” he added.

“Those two people need to understand, this message is for them,” the President went on, however abstaining from mentioning them by name.

Nevertheless, the reference was understood to be aimed at STF Justices Alexandre de Moraes and Roberto Barroso, whom he has criticized and even insulted in recent weeks.

De Moraes is in charge of investigations into Bolsonaro on suspicion that he would be linked to a “criminal organization” which produces and disseminates fake news from the so-called “Cabinet of Hate,” which would allegedly operate from the Planalto Palace.

On Sept. 7, Brazil's Independence Day, Bolsonaro is to deliver two speeches: first in the morning in Brasilia and later in the day on Avenida Paulista, São Paulo's main street.

“Rest assured, as a soldier, I swore to give my life for my country, just as all of you swore, in your subconscious, to give your life for your freedom,” the president and former Army captain said.

Far-right activists have been reported to be planning to attend the gatherings bearing arms to invade the palaces of the STF and Congress and demand the implementation of a military government with Bolsonaro at the head.

Bolsonaro Thursday defended freedom of expression and linked respect for it to the presence of police officers as private citizens at the demonstrations. Brasilia's prosecutors have warned that the “Constitution prohibits the participation of active police officers, in uniform or not, in political events.”

Meanwhile, São Paulo's attorneys have requested the Office of the Attorney General of the Military Police to adopt punitive measures against officers who take part in the demonstrations.

Bolsonaro stressed Friday that “we do not need to leave the four lines of the Constitution, but if someone wants to play outside the four lines, we will show that we can assert the will and strength of the people.”

As he made those remarks, Bolsonaro was standing alongside evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, known for his far-right positions such as defending the country's military regime and preaching against social distancing and the closure of temples due to the coronavirus pandemic. Malafaia said he repudiated the “ideology of hell” that some use to “take away religious freedom and the freedom of the people.”

STF Chief Justice Luiz Fux had warned Thursday that “in a democratic environment, public demonstrations are peaceful” at the same time that “freedom of expression is not compatible with violence and threats,” while Senate Speaker Rodrigo Pacheco met with governors to assess the country's climate and institutional instability.