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BrianMier

25 Aug, 8 tweets, 3 min read

The Brazilian Federal Police is investigating Steve Bannon for allegedly running a digital fake news cabal that's breaking Brazilian law by spreading disinformation about the electoral system, in collusion with Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro. thread

As a country that only returned to democracy in 1985 after a bloody, US backed military dictatorship, Brazil has strong laws protecting the integrity of its electoral system. You can get arrested for making up baseless claims about fraud, as the Bolsonaro's have been doing.

In his defense, as the Federal Police net tightens around him, Eduardo Bolsonaro is saying that he "didn't know that questioning the electronic voting system and anonymous voting was a crime in Brazil." Most children learn that ignorance of the law is no excuse in grade school.

As usual (probably being coached from his buddy Steve Bannon) Eduardo is deliberately obfuscating the issue. It's not illegal to ask questions about the voting system. It's illegal to fabricate and disseminate lies about its integrity with no concrete evidence to back it up.

The fact is that there has never been a proven case of electoral fraud in Brazil's electronic voting system since it was implemented in 1996. If you lie that there was, then you are not "questioning" the electronic voting system, you are lying about it. tse.jus.br/imprensa/notic…

Brazil's laws regarding free speech have some significant differences from the US, more closely resembling the laws of Germany. Whereas you might get sued for spreading lies about elections or Covid 19 quackery in the US, in Brazil you can be jailed.

On the other hand, punitive damages in civil lawsuits are extremely low in Brazil. Whereas a Giulliani type could get sued for millions of dollars for lying about voter fraud in the US, in Brazil he would be fined in the tens of thousands but have to spend time in Jail.

Brazil doesn't have a very good track record on imprisoning US multi-millionaire elites like Steve Bannon. It would be interesting if he were found guilty and extradited to Brazil to face trail though. The more likely scenario is his Brazilian collaborators will be screwed.

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BrianMier

@BrianMteleSUR

9 Sep

Fascism and big business have walked hand in hand since the days of Mussolini. Meet Marlon Bonilha (l), the multimillionaire owner of the Pro-Tork trucking company, which still has a dozen trucks parked on Brasilia's Esplanade honking and intimidating the Supreme Court.

This is a picture of a childrens' toy version of a Pro Tork truck. Notice the logo on the side of the cab.

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BrianMier

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BrianMier

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Today marks the 38th anniversary of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores/CUT, the largest Labor Union Federation in Latin America. Despite the setbacks of the US-backed 2016 coup, with 23 million members it remains the largest mobilizing force on the Brazilian left.

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Brazil's Military Police are a living legacy of the dictatorship that was never purged of its torturers and death squad actors after 1985. Controlled by the state governors, officers aren't required to respond to the regular rule of law, having their own parallel courts. Thread

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BrianMier

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21 Aug

President Bolsonaro's elite supporters, under guidance from Steve Bannon/Mike Lindell, appear to be planning a Jan. 6 style invasion of the Supreme Court building in Brasilia on September 7th - Brazilian Independence day.

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