A heart has been given a lot of space in the news here in Brazil in the last week. The owner of the heart has, for natural reasons, not caught on to this. He died 188 years ago. Pedro I, better known as Dom Pedro, was Brazil’s first emperor and the man who separated the country from the colonial power Portugal. This happened in the year 1822 – i.e. 200 years ago. When Dom Pedro died 12 years later, his heart was placed in a container of formalin and kept in a church in the city of Porto in Portugal. A policeman holds the urn with Dom Pedro’s heart during a ceremony in Brasília. Photo: SERGIO LIMA / AFP Dom Pedro was very fond of the city and wrote in his will that he wanted his heart to always be there. But this week, the former emperor’s heart has been on a journey. It was flown to Brazil’s capital, Brasília, where a large reception was held with President Jair Bolsonaro at the helm. And on September 7, on Brazil’s national day, the relic will be given pride of place when the country celebrates its great anniversary. Banished by Napoleon Pedro was only 10 years old when the Portuguese royal family had to flee to Brazil. Napoleon’s troops had invaded Portugal, and the royal family made a dramatic choice: To rule their empire from the then Brazilian capital of Rio de Janeiro. The young prince thus became half-Brazilian, and when the king and the rest of the family eventually returned to their homeland, he remained as regent. This painting of Dom Pedro 1st hangs in the Presidential Palace in Brasília. Photo: Eraldo Peres / AP This was a time of increased desire for freedom among Brazilians, and Don Pedro stood at the forefront of the liberation struggle. In the autumn of 1822 he went to São Paulo where he gathered his associates at the river Ipiranga and declared Brazil an independent state. According to tradition, the prince must have shouted “Independecia ou morte” – “Independence or death”. This is the famous “cry at Ipiranga”, which all Brazilian children learn about at school. Perfect for Bolsonaro There is thus a lot of national pathos to play on when Brazil’s president leads the 200-year commemoration on National Day on 7 September. And it could hardly have suited him better. Just over three weeks later, there are elections here in Brazil, and Jair Bolsonaro knows the art of playing on the patriotic and national strings. One of Bolsonaro’s supporters during the demonstration in São Paulo on National Day last year. Photo: MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL / AFP Many remember with horror last year’s national day, when the president mobilized his supporters to extremely aggressive demonstrations. In the capital Brasília and in the country’s largest city São Paulo, the demonstrators carried placards demanding the closure of the country’s National Assembly and Supreme Court. And one of the demands during the demonstrations was “Dictatorship with Bolsonaro in power”. The president was present during both commemorations, saying that only God can remove him from office. Is he taking “a Trump”? He thus put his finger on one of the most burning questions ahead of this autumn’s election. Will Jair Bolsonaro voluntarily resign if he loses? President Jair Bolsonaro during an election rally in the state of São Paulo last Friday. Photo: Marcelo Chello / AP Or can we risk that he does like his great role model Donald Trump after the election defeat in 2020 – mobilizing his followers for violent actions in the hope of holding on to power? The question was the first thing that came to the table when the president was interviewed by Brazil’s largest TV station O Globo last Monday. And the answer was: “Yes, I will accept the result if the election goes well”. That is not very reassuring. For Bolsonaro of course reserves the right to assess himself whether the election result is correct and fair. As Trump did in the US. What will happen on September 7? And according to the polls, it does not appear that the incumbent president will be re-elected. His archenemy Lula da Silva from the Labor Party PT has led the polls of all the major institutes in recent months. And although the distance has narrowed somewhat in the last couple of weeks, the lead is still clear. Former president Lula da Silva is 8-10 percentage points ahead of Bolsonaro in the opinion polls. Photo: MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL / AFP So now the 200th anniversary on 7 September provides a golden opportunity for Jair Bolsonaro to acquire new voters. And many Brazilians fear the worst. Will he once again attack the country’s most important democratic institutions? But this time we have heard little of the threats that came ahead of last year’s National Day. Instead, the president says that he does not want to provoke, but will set up a giant demonstration that will show his great support among the population. Heart to trouble One of the features of the celebration is thus to show off the heart of the country’s first emperor – an idea that has been met with mixed reactions. Far from all Brazilians are enthusiastic about the exhibition of the former emperor’s heart. Photo: ADRIANO MACHADO / Reuters Some believe it is immoral to spend a lot of money on transporting the treasure to Brazil, while 30 percent of the country’s inhabitants live on the verge of starvation after the pandemic. Others believe that the project is a cheap way to get attention before the election. Among the latter is Isabel Lustosa, who has written a biography of Brazil’s first emperor. “This is an artificial patriotism in which the purpose is to achieve political gain in the election on 2 October,” she says to the agency Deutsche Welle. “Exhibiting the heart of a former emperor is almost perverse. It has no meaning and serves no purpose whatsoever,” says the author. And already the day after the 200th anniversary, the much-discussed treasure is on its way back to Portugal by plane – to the relief of the congregation where it belongs, and undoubtedly also to many Brazilians.
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The emperor’s heart takes center stage when Brazil celebrates its birthday – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
