International
Booming gun ownership triggers fears for Brazil vote
AFP | by Eugenia LOGIURATTO
Wearing a black T-shirt stamped with the word “Bolsonaro” and a skull, Brazilian ex-cop Elitusalem Gomes Freitas takes aim with his .40-caliber rifle and fires, savoring the smell of gunpowder as he nails his target.
Clutching his bulky black rifle at a firing range in the Rio de Janeiro suburbs, a handgun strapped to his thigh, Freitas proudly repeats one of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s maxims: “An armed populace will never be enslaved.”
Freitas is part of a demographic that has boomed in Bolsonaro’s Brazil: since the former army captain became president in 2019, the number of registered gun owners has more than quintupled, from 117,000 to 673,000, as the administration has loosened gun-control laws.
There are now more civilian gun owners in Brazil than police — 406,384.
That is making some Brazilians nervous as the country heads for a divisive presidential election on October 2 pitting Bolsonaro against his leftist nemesis, ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), who leads in the polls.
Citing fears of election violence, the Supreme Court temporarily suspended several of Bolsonaro’s gun-control rollbacks last week. The week before, the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) banned voters from bringing guns to polling stations.
Like Bolsonaro, Freitas is no fan of the electoral authority, which the president accuses of allowing what he insists — without evidence — is rampant fraud in Brazil’s electronic voting system.
After inspecting the white silhouette target he has just filled with holes, Freitas, 42, explains he is ready to take up arms if necessary to defend Brazil’s “freedom.”
“I can’t allow half a dozen people (the TSE’s judges) to decide our nation’s destiny against the people’s will. The right to bear arms is how we guarantee our freedom and defend our sovereignty against the internal enemy,” he says.
But he adds there is nothing to fear from Brazil’s burgeoning class of firearm owners.
“It’s not about arming everyone. It’s about giving good citizens the right to access a firearm and learn to use it.”
‘Cursed inheritance’
Security expert Bruno Langeani says hardliners ready to take up arms in the name of politics are a minority in Brazil.
But he emphasizes that “even a minority can cause huge damage if it’s radicalized,” pointing to the rioters who stormed the US Capitol last year after the election loss of ex-president Donald Trump — Bolsonaro’s political role model.
Langeani says the massive expansion of gun ownership in Brazil will be a “cursed inheritance” that could fuel violence for years to come.
“A civilian can now buy more powerful guns than the police,” he says.
“Licensed hunters, sport shooters and collectors can in some cases own up to 60 firearms per person, including 30 assault rifles.”
There are 4.4 million firearms in civilian hands in Brazil, a country of 212 million people, according to the Brazilian Public Security Forum.
One-third of them have expired permits.
Bolsonaro points to a fall in murders as evidence his gun policies are a success: last year, the number of homicides fell by 13 percent.
However, the number of murders with firearms increased by 24 percent, according to health ministry figures.
‘Like a shopping mall’
Around 1,000 shooting clubs — members-only firing ranges — have opened in Brazil since Bolsonaro took office, according to army figures cited by online news site UOL.
“When the government made it easier to purchase firearms, I said, ‘We have to jump on this,’” says former policeman Marcelo Costa, president of the club where Freitas practices, Mil Armas (One Thousand Firearms), which opened four years ago.
Costa operates the club with his two sons, both in their twenties and both fellow gun enthusiasts. His wife, a psychologist, is licensed by the authorities to perform the mandatory psychological evaluations of all new members.
The club, which has strict security protocols, offers lessons for members, and legal advice for those who want to obtain a gun license.
Members can borrow or purchase weapons from the club’s vast arsenal, with prices ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 reais ($950-$3,800).
“It’s like a shopping mall. We have everything,” says Costa, who offers the option to buy guns in up to 12 installments with no interest.
International
María Corina Machado: “Venezuela is closer than ever to regaining freedom”
Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado declared on Friday that Venezuela is facing “the most decisive moment in its contemporary history” and that the country is “closer than ever to regaining freedom and democracy.”
Her remarks were delivered via video message during the 81st General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Machado emphasized that the situation in Venezuela remains “extremely serious” due to censorship and repression imposed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, particularly in a global context where “society is built on information.”
She warned that authoritarian governments manipulate public opinion through “psychological warfare” and disinformation, while shutting down media outlets and persecuting journalists.
“The only way to topple these regimes is through the constant, relentless, and unrestricted preaching of the truth. It is absolutely true that the truth will set us free,” she stated.
International
Millions to join “No Kings” march in U.S. amid Trump’s growing authoritarian backlash
Millions of Americans are set to take to the streets this Saturday in more than 2,500 cities across the United States for the second edition of the “No Kings” march, a massive protest organized by progressive groups and activists against what they describe as the authoritarian direction of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
The demonstration, expected to be the largest since Trump’s return to power, comes amid a federal government shutdown, further heightening political tensions in Washington.
From the White House, press secretary Abigail Jackson dismissed the event with a brief “Who cares?”, while senior Republican leaders labeled the march as an act of “hate against America.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson accused Democrats of blocking negotiations to reopen the government and claimed they were “unable to stand up to their raging base.” He also linked the protests to “supporters of Hamas and the Antifa terrorist group.”
President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News, blamed Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer for the legislative deadlock.
“He’s got nothing else left to do. Everyone’s hitting him hard,” Trump said.
The organizers — a coalition of Democratic leaders and more than 200 civil society and labor groups — argue that the Republican refusal to reopen the government is a clear symptom of the authoritarianism they seek to denounce.
The main rally will take place in Washington, D.C., which has been under heightened National Guard surveillance for weeks, officially to control rising crime. However, organizers contend the deployment is aimed at intimidating and silencing dissent.
Protesters have been urged to wear yellow, a reference to the 2019 pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
“With this color, we align ourselves with a historical context and remind the world that power must come from the people, not from crowns,” organizers stated on their website.
In addition to the capital, large marches are scheduled in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, and Honolulu, as well as abroad in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and several Spanish cities — Madrid (Puerta del Sol), Barcelona (Plaça Sant Jaume), Seville (Plaza Nueva), and Málaga (Plaza de la Marina).
During the first edition, held in June, the movement gathered around five million people, a figure organizers expect to surpass this weekend.
International
Petro expresses concern over fatal shooting during mass protests in Lima
Colombian President Gustavo Petro voiced his “concern” on Thursday over recent events in Peru, following the death of a protester reportedly shot during a massive demonstration in Lima against the government and Congress.
“I must express my concern over the events in Peru. A young artist has been killed in citizens’ protests,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The Colombian leader also noted that in Peru, “a popularly elected president remains imprisoned without conviction,” referring to Pedro Castillo, who led the country from July 2021 to December 2022 until he was removed by Congress following a failed attempted coup.
“This is a blatant violation of the American Convention on Human Rights,” Petro stated, adding, “I hope Peru seeks social and political dialogue to legitimize its public institutions.”
On Wednesday, Peru experienced widespread protests in several cities, with the largest demonstration in Lima in recent years, driven by citizens’ concerns over corruption and public insecurity.
During the capital’s mobilization, the Ombudsman’s Office confirmed the death of Eduardo Ruiz, 32, and reported clashes that left over 100 injured, including 78 police officers and 24 protesters, as well as ten arrests.
The Attorney General’s Office, investigating Ruiz’s death “in the context of serious human rights violations,” confirmed that the protester was shot.
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