Bolsonaro asks fans to stop roadblocks | Abroad

,,You are sad and expecting something different, so am I. But I call on the protesters: clear the roads,” Bolsonaro said. The roadblocks “do not seem to me to be part of legitimate protests,” Bolsonaro said. The far-right president has asked his supporters to demonstrate elsewhere.” Other demonstrations that take place in squares all over Brazil (…) are part of the democratic game. They are welcome.

Bolsonaro supporters had erected hundreds of roadblocks across the country to protest the election results. On Sunday, Bolsonaro lost the presidential election to his leftist challenger and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

As of Wednesday afternoon (local time), partial or full roadblocks remained on 146 highways in 17 states, while 688 protests had already been dismantled, according to the Federal Highway Patrol. More than 200 highways were closed Tuesday morning.

Some of Bolsonaro’s supporters gather outside army bases, calling on the army to intervene to reverse the official results. Protests took place outside military installations in at least 24 states, including the metropolitan district of Brasilia, according to local news service G1. Bolsonaro, a former army officer, enjoys strong support from the military, despite the constitution prohibiting them from meddling in politics.

It was initially unclear whether Bolsonaro would accept his electoral defeat. But on Tuesday, two days after the election, he resigned himself to the result in an extremely short speech. He said his supporters’ protests after the election stemmed from “outrage and a sense of unfairness” at the outcome.