SAO PAULO, Feb 26, (AP): Supporters of former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro staged a huge rally jamming a main avenue in Brazil's biggest city Sunday to defend him against legal challenges that could put him in jail.
The far-right leader said in a speech that he seeks "pacification to erase the past,” taking a more conciliatory tone than when he was in office.
Bolsonaro is seeking to show his base is resilient as he is being investigated by federal police over his alleged role in the Jan. 8, 2023, attacks on government buildings by his supporters over his election loss. He wants the dozens of people still in jail for those incidents to get pardons.
Bolsonaro is also accused of illegally receiving jewels from Saudi Arabia during his presidency.
His supporters filled blocks of the city's Paulista Avenue. Independent observers from a research group at the University of Sao Paulo estimated 185,000 people joined in. Brazil's military police put the crowd size even bigger.
Many of the participants complained Bolsonaro is being persecuted by Brazil's Supreme Court and claimed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva unfairly won his narrow victory in the 2022 election.
Bolsonaro denied that he and his supporters attempted a coup when rioters assaulted government buildings a year ago.
"What is a coup? It is tanks on the streets, weapons, conspiracy. None of that happened in Brazil," he said.
Bolsonaro is barred from running for office until 2030 due to two convictions of abuse of power, but he remains active in Brazilian politics as the main adversary for left-of-center Lula. As this year's mayoral elections loom, candidates have split between the two leaders.