Brazil’s opposition has warned the country faces a potential wave of political violence ahead of October’s presidential election following the killing of a member of the left-wing Workers’ Party by a supporter of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
Police officer Marcelo Arruda, Workers’ Party treasurer in the southern city of Foz do Iguaçu, was shot dead on Saturday night after a party to celebrate his 50th birthday was attacked by Jorge José da Rocha Guaranho, a federal prison officer and ardent supporter of Mr Bolsonaro.
Guaranho passed the party shouting “Here belongs to Bolsonaro” and “Lula’s a Thief” in reference to the former president and Workers’ Party leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After a heated discussion with people attending the celebration, he went to his car to get a revolver before returning and shooting Mr Arruda, who returned fire with his own gun before dying. His assailant is in hospital. The incident was captured on video.
The killing follows two recent attacks on supporters at rallies held by Mr Lula, who holds a commanding lead in opinion polls over Mr Bolsonaro. Last week a man threw a small home-made bomb at crowds waiting to see Mr Lula in Rio de Janeiro. He was arrested, and denied any political motivation, saying he was only protesting against the deepening political polarisation in the country.
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In June three men were arrested after a drone sprayed the crowd at a Workers’ Party rally in the state of Minas Gerais with a foul-smelling substance police suspect was a poison for controlling flies in horse stables. June also witnessed the invasion of a campaign meeting in São Paulo attended by Mr Lula by a small group of supporters of Mr Bolsonaro. In May Mr Lula’s car was surrounded by supporters of the president attempting to prevent him from attending a campaign event.
In response to the incidents the Workers’ Party has demanded better police protection for the Lula campaign, and party president Gleisi Hoffmann said the country’s electoral court needed to tackle the risk of political violence ahead of October’s election. Opposition senator Randolfe Rodrigues said the court needed to “criminalise the dog whistle” and “hold Jair Bolsonaro to account for hate speech and incitement to violence”.
In the past Mr Bolsonaro has jokingly promised to “machine-gun” Workers’ Party activists and has framed this year’s election as a battle between “good and evil”. Responding to Saturday’s murder on social media he wrote: “To this sort of person, I ask for the sake of coherence change side and support the left, which has accumulated an undeniable history of violent episodes.”