Bomb with leaflets in São Paulo scandalizes far-right

We share an unofficial translation of an article by A Nova Democracia.

Far-right makes scandal against ‘communist threat’ in São Paulo after explosion of bomb with leaflets

Far-right politicians went into hysteria with the news, propagated today by the monopoly newspaper Folha de São Paulo, that two bombs with leaflets with communist content exploded at the Pinheiros Terminal, in São Paulo, today, March 12.

Former state representative Douglas Garcia (União-SP), who describes himself as “anti-communist” on his Instagram profile, called the explosion of the box an “attack” and “terrorism”. Even with the low explosive potential of the device admitted by the monopoly of the press and researchers, he made a point of concluding that the communists are “people who are not good” and that “they are willing to kill to defend their ideology.”

“That’s why I say, this film there, ‘I’m Still Here’ (Translator’s Note: Brazilian film on the military regime), everything that goes on in universities under the military regime, is a farce,” continued. “That’s what they did, they killed innocent people,” he added, pointing to a news story about the explosion of a bomb during the military regime. “Not everyone with this poor face is Fernanda Torres playing Eunice Paiva (Translator’s note: actress and her character in ‘I’m Still Here’). The reality is this here, this is their face”, adds the “green chicken”.

This former Bolsonarist congressman is the same one who, during the Bolsonaro government, exposed thousands of public data of people who called themselves “anti-fascists”, which is why he is the target of more than 80 lawsuits. In the famous “Anti-Fascist Dossier”, there are names, addresses, photos and even the tax pay number of thousands of democrats and progressives. Douglas Garcia, a fervent follower of Olavo de Carvalho, also asked the court to decree his “self-bankruptcy”, claiming to owe 900,000 reais and being unable to pay. During the 2024 elections, the Bolsonaro supporter presented to the Electoral Court seven zeroed bank accounts, without having declared real estate or cars under his name, even though he was a state deputy for the PSL, in 2018, with salaries of around 25.000 reais. The “patriot” has also dedicated his best efforts to appeal for an intervention by the US government of Trump against the country.

Another Bolsonaro supporter who made a scandal was the blogger Flavia Ferronato. She classified the bombs with leaflets as an “attack against the Democratic Rule of Law”. “This is terrorism,” she concluded, on social network X, comparing it to the Bolsonaro of January 8, 2023. The far-right media Brasil Paralelo emphasized the word “Maoism,” saying that this is a strand of communism created by “Mao Tsetung, who defended the peasant revolution.”

What happened?

According to the monopoly newspaper Folha de São Paulo, the leaflets had communist slogans, such as “Down with the coup generals!”, “Death to the fascists!”, “Long live Maoism!”, “Long live the People’s War!” and “Long live the Democratic Revolution!”, signed as “Communist Party of Brazil – P.C.B.”. Other media outlets of the press monopoly, such as CNN Brasil, G1 and Jovem Pan also reported on it. No one was injured. On the old Twitter, the subject is one of the 15 most commented in Brazil today.

PCdoB denies involvement

When contacted, the state directory of the PCdoB of São Paulo denied, in a public statement, any involvement with the action. Trying to defend itself from criticism from the far right, the association also condemned the bomb with leaflets as “a serious and irresponsible provocation” and suggested collaboration with the police: “we will take the appropriate legal measures to ascertain responsibilities.”

Despite the low explosive potential reported by the police, federal deputy Jandira Feghali (PCdoB) compared the bomb with leaflets with the actions of the far-right, in a conversation with ICL Notícias. “When Bolsonaro gave the interview about January 8, he said that it was the left that did it. They are trying to throw all their absurdities into us,” he said, suggesting that it was a provocation by the far-right. In turn, researcher Michele Prado dismisses that it is a provocation by the extreme right and maintains that they were actions of low explosive potential with the objective of “ideological dissemination”.