Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been uncharacteristically quiet since his election loss to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last month, all but disappearing from public view and even his beloved social media accounts.
The far-right president, who remains in office until January 1, responded to his defeat in the October 30 runoff election with nearly two days of silence, raising fears he could try to fight the result as his supporters blocked highways in protest and urged the military to intervene to keep him in power.
Bolsonaro finally made a brief statement on November 1, saying he would respect the constitution, but neither conceding defeat nor congratulating Lula.
He followed that up with a video posted on social media the following night, urging supporters to stop blocking highways — though he encouraged “legitimate demonstrations.”
The protesters largely acquiesced, though a handful of rogue roadblocks remain, as well as demonstrations outside military bases.
Bolsonaro, 67, has remained silent since.
According to his public agenda, he has been holed up at his official residence since November 1, when he met with cabinet ministers.
Newspaper O Globo reported Bolsonaro was home with “health issues,” had a fever and appeared exhausted, citing sources close to the president.
Bolsonaro’s office did not immediately respond to questions about his health from AFP.
The leader of the president’s Liberal Party (PL), Valdemar Costa Neto, said Bolsonaro’s silence was “natural” given his narrow loss — 50.9 percent of the vote to 49.1 percent, the tightest presidential race in Brazil’s modern history.
“When you lose an election like that, you feel it in your heart,” Neto told a news conference.
“It’s a great sadness.”
Enigmatic tweet
Bolsonaro has not posted to his usually bustling Twitter account since the runoff, except last Wednesday’s video and an enigmatic picture posted Tuesday, showing the president standing before a crowd of supporters, a Brazilian flag in the background.
Bolsonaro has even stopped giving his weekly live address on Facebook, one of the main communication channels he has relied on to speak to his base throughout his presidency.
The rest of the Bolsonaro clan has also been unusually quiet online since the election.
The day after, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the president’s eldest son, posted a message saying, “Dad, I’m with you no matter what.”
Sunday, he posted two other messages condemning alleged “censorship” of his father’s supporters on social media — a frequent complaint from the pro-Bolsonaro camp as Brazilian authorities have moved to block disinformation online.
Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio’s younger brother, meanwhile shared a post from new Twitter owner Elon Musk promising to “look into” claims that pro-Bolsonaro users’ accounts were unfairly suspended.
On Wednesday, Lula was to meet with the leaders of both chambers of Congress in Brasilia to talk about budget issues as the incoming president looks to implement his campaign promises of increased social spending.