For the second Sunday in a row, anti-fascist activists took to the streets throughout Brazil to protest against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and, in particular, to protest for Black lives—in solidarity (and also motivated by) the protests in the US for George Floyd.

Among Bolsonaro’s supporters (and even members of his government) one can find several neo-Nazis, yet weekly protests have been organized throughout the country in support for the president.

“There are many parallels” between the protests in the United States and Brazil, says David Magalhães, International Relations professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.

“Both there and here, slave society has left us the damned legacy of structural racism. There are thousands of George Floyds on the favelas and outskirts of cities who are daily victims of police violence. Both there and here we have presidents who give prestige to structural racism, who treat Black movements as politically-corrected victimhood and [they both have] connections to a far-right that is hostile to minorities. Finally, they are two presidents who have reacted terribly to the pandemic and Black and poor people have been the main victims of COVID-19.”

Full article at Remezcla’s website. Date of publication: 09/06/2020.