Airport brawl reveals new political climate.

The conflict between Senator José Aníbal (PSDB-SP) and lawyer Bruno Rodrigues de Lima, who called him a "coup plotter" and "traitor to Brazil" yesterday morning in the area near the passenger arrivals at JK Airport in Brasília, is a current snapshot of the Brazilian political moment.

For those who have become accustomed, since the AP 470 trial, also known as Mensalão, to witnessing the moral lynching of figures linked to the Lula government and the Workers' Party, the scene shows the opposite situation. José Aníbal was the fourth case of a politician linked to interim president Michel Temer who was publicly harassed.

This is no small feat, considering that Temer has barely completed 30 days as interim president and, in theory, should have an unblemished and untainted image to offer the electorate.

The substitute minister, who took office just over a month ago – after the incumbent José Serra was appointed by Michel Temer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – upon landing in the Federal Capital, José Anibal heard insults equivalent to those directed at members of the Workers' Party.

"The boy was only telling the truth," a driver assured 247, who had dropped off a client at the airport and was preparing to leave when he heard Anibal's shouts and decided to record what he saw on his cell phone camera, producing one of the videos that accompany this report. "The politician was completely out of control."

 

In statements published on the G1 portal, Aníbal said: “He called me a thief, I called him back. I went towards him not to assault him, but to confront him. I kicked his bag and he slipped, almost fell. I had a newspaper page in my hand, but I didn't hit him.”

The available images show a much more aggressive senator, capable of advancing on Bruno several times. On one occasion, he displays a newspaper in his hand. At another moment, he pushes the lawyer and makes movements to slap him – which the camera does not fully capture.   

"José Anibal only missed hitting me because I protected myself with my arm," says the lawyer, who is studying law at the University of Brasília and at that moment intended to board a plane to Salvador, where he had a case to defend.

 

The conflict in Brasília will continue in court. Bruno has already filed a complaint, and it is likely that the senator will take a similar initiative.

The issue is political, however, and sends a negative signal for the Temer government, especially since there is no shortage of precedents for this.  

On Sunday, Paulinho da Força and Beto Mansur were booed during a São Paulo-Brasília flight. A week ago, Henrique Eduardo Alves, then Minister of Tourism, was forced to lock himself in an airplane bathroom to escape the boos. In May, when he landed in Manaus after the Chamber approved the impeachment request, Congressman Pauderney Avelino faced a similar situation.

Bruno Rodrigues de Lima's protest was individual and improvised, as can be seen in the images.

However, experience teaches that these manifestations cannot always be considered entirely spontaneous.

In several cases, both the protests against members of the Lula-Dilma government and those targeting Temer and his allies involved the direct participation of the interested parties.

The question is how those people who act as spectators and merely watch the conflict behave. They may show solidarity with one side and opposition to the other. Yesterday, when José Aníbal went so far as to say that he was being attacked by "PT supporters," a lady who had been silently watching everything reacted:

"It's not just PT supporters," he said.