(CNN) It should have been a happy occasion with Marcelo Arruda, a member of the left – wing Labor Party in Brazil, celebrating his 50th birthday with a politically themed party over the weekend.
Instead, a deadly revolver exploded at the meeting in the southern Brazilian city of Foz de Iguaçu, claiming that Arruda’s life was in apparent conflict against the politics that attracted the nation ‘s attention.
The bloodshed highlights the escalating tensions in Brazil as presidential elections approach this fall, as former left – wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva confronts right – wing president Jair Bolsonaro.
What happened
Arruda’s birthday party was held on Saturday at a local sports club when a prison guard named Jorge Guaranho came singing singing Bolsonaro’s name, CNN Brasil reported. See the article : Ophir Lupu Leaves UTA After 10 Years as Head of Video Games (EXCLUSIVE).
Bolsonaro’s staunch supporter Guaranho was asked to leave with his family – but returned a minute later with a gun, Arruda’s son Leonardo told CNN Brasil.
Guaranho and Arruda, a member of the local security forces, conducted a fire exchange.
“My father said ‘Man, get out of my party. I’m a cop, get out. Let me enjoy my party in peace.’ And the man noticed him and pulled a gun and aimed at him, “Leonardo said.
“The man returned a few minutes later and started shooting. He shot my father three times and my father was able to shoot back and shoot him five times,” he said.
Arruda, who was beaten twice, has died from his injuries, according to Parana state civilian police.
Guaranho was also shot and is currently in hospital in critical condition, police said.
This was not the first violent incident of the country’s growing political polarization.
One day before the shooting, two explosives were thrown into a crowd at a rally for Lula, as da Silva is commonly known.
At another crowd, Lula was also heard thanking a local councilor arrested for attempted murder against a man who insulted the former president in 2018.
In a statement on its official website on Sunday, the Labor Party described Arruda as a “victim of intolerance, hatred and political violence,” accusing President Bolsonaro of a “hate speech” that incited fans to act provocatively. The party plans to request a federal investigation into the incident, press officer Ricardo Amaral told CNN on Monday.
Lula also tweeted Sunday that the killing was motivated by the “hate speech” promoted by an “irresponsible president”.
“We dismiss any form of support from those who practice violence against opponents,” Bolsonaro also tweeted, re-tweeting a message he sent in 2018, without direct reference to the incident. His statement also accused the “left” of “an undeniable history of violent incidents”.
Bolsonaro called for a thorough investigation into the shots. Speaking to his supporters on Monday, he also dismissed the incident as a “fight between two people,” lamenting that Garanho was widely described as one of his supporters, or “Bolsonarista”.
“You saw what happened yesterday [Saturday], didn’t you? There’s a fight between two, in Foz do Iguaçu. ‘Bolsonarista’ what you have. Now, no one says Adelio is affiliated with PSOL, is it?” , referring to the 2018 attack when a man affiliated with left – wing parties violated him during a campaign rally.
Bolsonaro has long been accused of inciting hostility to the Workers’ Party. During a campaign rally in Acre state in 2018, the then presidential candidate rose threefold and pretended to be a gun, saying: “Let ‘s make the Acre Workers’ Party machine gun support.”
Brazil’s top election official Luiz Edson Fachin has previously warned that the forthcoming vote risks “more severe” unrest than on January 6, 2021, when American riots raged by a religious-inspired U.S. capital false that there was a 2020 election. stolen.
“Brazilian society will put a mirror in front of itself on October 2. If it wants everyone’s war against everyone, or if it wants democracy,” Fachin said.
Flora Charner from CNN reported Atlanta and Shasta Darlington from São Paulo. Reported by journalists Camilo Rocha, Rodrigo Pedroso, Laura Diaz and Susanna Capelouto.
