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      Bolsonaro takes another step: compares MST and MTST to PCC and Comando Vermelho.

      In its escalating criminalization of social movements and the left, the new regime attacks the MS and MTST, comparing them to the criminal organizations PCC and Comando Vermelho; this was done by Jair Bolsonaro himself, in a tweet late Saturday morning; the tweet should be read following another, posted six hours earlier; in this one, Bolsonaro expressed support for a bill by Senator Lasier Martins that reinstates aspects of the Anti-Terrorism Law of March 2016 vetoed by then-President Dilma Rousseff; the text broadens the concept of terrorism in an unprecedented way in the country.

      Bolsonaro takes another step: compares MST and MTST to PCC and Comando Vermelho.

      247 - In its escalating criminalization of social movements and the left, the new regime is attacking the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) and the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST), comparing them to the criminal organizations PCC and Comando Vermelho (CV). This was done by Jair Bolsonaro himself, in a tweet late Saturday morning. The tweet should be read in the wake of another, posted six hours earlier (at 5:03 am), pinned by the president to the top of his profile. In this tweet, Bolsonaro expressed support for a bill by Senator Lasier Martins (PDT-RS) that reinstates aspects of the Anti-Terrorism Law of March 2016 vetoed by then-President Dilma Rousseff. The text broadens the concept of terrorism in an unprecedented way in the country.

      Martins's bill was reported by fundamentalist senator Magno Malta, who refused the vice-presidential nomination on Bolsonaro's ticket and ultimately lost his bid for re-election as senator for Espírito Santo. Malta has already given a favorable report on the bill, and it is expected to go to a vote in the Senate's Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee soon, at the start of the new legislative year in February.

      According to the bill, acts of vandalism or looting "of means of transport or any public or private property" will be considered terrorist acts. The text recalls typical provisions of dictatorial regimes: "The same penalties apply to anyone who shelters or harbors a person whom they know has committed a terrorist crime." Even the public expression of support for acts classified as "terrorism" in the bill will be considered a crime, even a simple post on a social network—with a penalty of 4 to 8 years in prison. 

      The attempt to stifle protest movements and social organizations is notorious. Those "sentenced to a closed regime will serve their sentence in a maximum security prison" - read the full text of the bill. hereThe regime inaugurated with Bolsonaro's election, despite statements by General Santos Cruz of the Government Secretariat signaling a willingness to engage in dialogue with social movements (here), slips, through the president's actions, into framing popular organizations as terrorists.

      See Bolsonaro's tweets: