#WeAreAllAroeira: cartoonists recreate the cartoon that Bolsonaro wants to ban.

By Cynara Menezes, for the Journalists for Democracy 

Brazilian and international cartoonists have united against the attempt by Jair Bolsonaro's government to intimidate their colleague Renato Aroeira over a cartoon originally published by the portal. Brazil 247The Minister of Justice, André Mendonça, announced that the Federal Police and the Attorney General's Office will open an investigation, based on the National Security Law from the time of the military regime, to investigate the cartoonist and journalist Ricardo Noblat, from the magazine. Veja, who shared the artist's work on Twitter.

Bolsonarism wants to repeat what happened during the dictatorship, when cartoonists like Ziraldo and Jaguar were imprisoned, and the weekly magazine... The QuibblerThe website where they both published their cartoons was censored and persecuted. Ziraldo went to jail before... QuibblerOn December 14, 1968, the day after the enactment of AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), which the president's own son, Eduardo, has said he dreams of re-enacting. The explanation: with his pencil, he was considered a "dangerous element" by the regime that tortured and killed opponents.

The cartoonist from Minas Gerais would be arrested again in 1970, along with the group from... Quibbler, because of an innocent intervention by Jaguar on Pedro Américo's painting, Independence or deathSince the military cultivated "patriotism" with adoration of the monarchy (similar to today, where "Prince" Luiz Phillipe de Orléans e Bragança is a Bolsonaro-supporting federal deputy), the phrase, a hit song by the trio Mocotó, was considered an "offense to the Fatherland."

For Miguel Paiva, who was 19 years old and played in Quibbler When that happened, it was actually an excuse for the arrest. "That was the justification; they were already planning to do it anyway," says Miguel, also a collaborator of... Brazil 247 and member of the collective Journalists for DemocracyHe lamented seeing history repeating itself. “The memory comes to mind, the feeling is that something bad is out there, but there’s also hope that humor will play its role. I feel more sadness than anger. I think it’s their desperation. They’ll resort to desperate measures, but the moment is different now, they’re the ones who remain the same.”

On the evening of Monday, June 15th, cartoonist Duke launched, in WhatsApp groups of cartoonists, the idea of ​​recreating Aroeira's work, titled "Continued Crime," under the title "Continued Cartoon," as a form of protest. So far, 55 cartoonists have joined in, with their recreations gathered on the profile [profile name missing]. @WeAreAllAroeira On Instagram. Unfortunately for Bolsonaro, they were even more forceful than the first.

“Initially I thought about doing a cartoon about the case, but then I thought that something collective would have much more impact, so I suggested the idea of ​​each person redrawing the cartoon. I did the first one and played with the original title of Aroeira's cartoon: 'continued crime' became 'continued cartoon,' which is exactly the proposal of the movement,” says Duke. “Humorists and artists in general are always the first victims of authoritarianism. Therefore, more than ever, it is not the time to remain silent. Those who do not take a stand against so many authoritarian attitudes corroborate the advance of fascism. Don't expect silence and omission from us, cartoonists. We will resist and fight to overcome this moment of so many setbacks.”

The hashtag #SomosTodosAroeira is also being used to publicize the protest on Twitter. A petition in solidarity with the cartoonist and in defense of freedom of expression. It has already gathered more than 35 signatures..

The Brazilian Press Association (ABI) and the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalists (Abraji) released statements condemning the intimidation of the cartoonist and Noblat. "It is appalling that the Minister of Justice, André Luiz Mendonça, announces the opening of a police investigation against the cartoonist Aroeira and the columnist Ricardo Noblat, due to an illustration created by the former and reproduced by the latter, associating Bolsonaro with Nazism," ABI stated in a note signed by its president., Paulo Jerônimo.

“It is concerning that the Ministry of Justice is invoking the National Security Law, enacted during the military dictatorship, to defend the President of the Republic from a cartoon critical of his government,” Abraji said on Twitter. “While every citizen has the right to seek legal redress when they feel their honor has been attacked, using the weight of the State and a law created during a period of exception is disproportionate in this case, and suggests that the real objective is to intimidate the press and curtail freedom of expression.”

The same Bolsonaro supporters who are now persecuting cartoonists love to appeal to "freedom of expression" when it comes to defending the "right" to spread fake news, attack minorities, make racist "jokes," and advocate for the installation of a new dictatorship.

The Brazilian Cartoonists Association, the Association of Comic Book Artists and Caricaturists of the State of São Paulo, the Brazilian Institute of Graphic Arts Memorial, and the Union of Professional Journalists in the State of São Paulo announced... an open letter In defense of freedom of expression. "What is more appalling, a cartoon or people throwing fireworks at the Supreme Court? This is an action that, yes, deserves the attention of the Minister of Justice," the text says. "As if that weren't enough, cartoonists Laerte, João Montanaro, Alberto Benett, and Cláudio Mor are being sued for publishing five cartoons critical of police violence."

Yes, the investigation against Aroeira came as a result of another lawsuit, filed by the Association of Military Officers of the State of São Paulo in Defense of the Military Police, Defenda PM, an entity linked to Bolsonaro's supporters, which went to court with a request for criminal clarification so that FSP and the cartoonists would "explain" cartoons considered by the organization to be "embarrassing" to it and its approximately 2 members. The works denounce police violence in the state. champion in killings committed by on-duty police officers..

The Brazilian Society of Illustrators repudiated the government's threat against the cartoonist. "We want to remind the Minister of Justice and the Head of SECOM that the cartoonist, exercising through his work the function of artist and critical communicator of events, is fully within his right to freedom of expression, as provided for in Article 5 of the 1988 Federal Constitution," the manifesto states. "As journalist Ricardo Noblat, also threatened by the government for sharing Aroeira's cartoon on his social media, rightly pointed out: 'Freedom of expression has not yet been revoked in this country.'"

Interestingly, the same Bolsonaro supporters who are now persecuting cartoonists love to appeal to "freedom of expression" when it comes to defending the "right" to spread fake news, attack minorities, make racist "jokes," and advocate for the installation of a new military dictatorship in their marches.

Check out some of the works from the "Continuous Cartoon" movement. Will the government sue them all?