Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro broke a two-day silence after his election defeat, saying protests by his supporters reflected “indignation” at the outcome but vowing to follow the country’s constitution.
Following 45 hours of self-imposed silence out of public view, the hard-right leader on Tuesday afternoon read out a carefully worded speech that did not directly contest his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s narrow win on Sunday, as some opponents had feared.
Pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators and truck drivers who say their candidate was unfairly denied victory have blocked hundreds of highways across the South American nation, sparking fears of food shortages and prompting threats of a crackdown by the country’s Supreme Court.