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Bolsonaro gathers 45,000 in Paulista (Main Road of Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city), a quarter of what he gathered in February.

The Bolsonaro rally on Paulista Avenue on September 7 brought together 45,400 people at 4:05 p.m., its peak time, according to a count by the University of São Paulo's Monitor of Political Debate in the Digital Environment.

For comparison's sake, a similar act on February 25, also organized by Protestant pastor Silas Malafaia, brought together 185,000 people, according to a survey by the same group. The head count was based on high-resolution aerial photos that covered the length of the avenue, taken at 2.25pm, 3.25pm and 4.05pm, and processed with the help of special software for this purpose. In the audience count, the margin of error is around 12% more or less.

As a result, this Saturday's demonstration, whose agendas were to defend the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is responsible for the investigations into the coup attempt, and amnesty for those arrested for the coup acts of January 8, 2023, in Brasilia, was more than four times smaller than the previous one, which supported Bolsonaro and criticized Moraes.

Even though it was organized after the minister suspended X/Twitter in Brazil and the series of reports in Folha de S.Paulo that showed how he produced evidence in the Superior Electoral Court and sent it to himself in the STF.

Meanwhile, Lula da Silva organized the annual civic-military march with the army, police, students, social groups and a special appearance by the Olympic team. There was also a tribute to those who lost their lives during the 2023 floods in southern Brazil and a tribute to the G20 countries with the presentation of their flags. Towards the end, Brazil's Public Health and Vaccination mascot, Zé Gotinha, appeared to promote vaccination for children.

'Our sovereignty is not for sale', says Lula in September 7th speech and indirectly to Musk. Without mentioning the X billionaire by name, the president said that, regardless of the size of their fortune, everyone has to respect Brazilian laws.

“No country is truly independent when it tolerates threats to its sovereignty. We will always be intolerant of anyone, no matter how big their fortune, who defies Brazilian law. Our sovereignty is not for sale,” Lula said on national radio and TV. Lula also emphasized the importance of democracy in guaranteeing a country's sovereignty and peaceful coexistence between opposing forces.

“Tomorrow is the day to celebrate Brazil's independence. And it's also a good time to celebrate democracy. No country is truly independent without the full exercise of democracy,” said the president. Lula stressed that democracy goes beyond the simple act of voting. It is, according to the president, the continuous struggle for fundamental rights, such as food, decent housing, quality jobs and security for families.

Venezuelan judge issues arrest warrant for opposition’s former presidential candidate

 A Venezuelan judge on Monday issued an arrest warrant for the opposition’s former presidential candidate Edmundo González as part of a criminal investigation into the results of the highly anticipated July election that both the ruling party and its opponents claim to have won.

The warrant was issued at the request of authorities who accuse González, a former diplomat, of various crimes including conspiracy, falsifying documents and usurpation of powers. The move is the latest escalation of repression against the opposition in the month after election officials declared President Nicolás Maduro had won a third term in office.

Authorities sought the warrant after González failed to appear three times to answer questions from prosecutors. González, 75, has not made any public appearances since the day after the election. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Prosecutors have zeroed in on thousands of tally sheets known as actas — printouts measuring several feet that resemble shopping receipts — that have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela. Each of the 30,000 electronic voting machines used in the July 28 election printed several copies of the sheets, whose information was also transmitted to the National Electoral Council.

Ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed, but they did not publish results broken down by voting machine as they had done in previous presidential elections. The National Electoral Council claimed it could not release the detailed information because its website was hacked.

Maduro’s ruling party has also refused to publish its copies of tally sheets.

The opposition, however, obtained tally sheets from more than 80% of machines, and said they show Maduro lost by a wide margin against González, and then published them online.

As international pressure mounts to release a breakdown of results, Maduro asked the country’s high court to audit the electoral process. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice, stacked with Maduro loyalists, concluded on Aug. 22 that the vote counts published by the opposition were false and certified Maduro’s victory.

González was summoned to the prosecutor’s office as recently as Friday.

He has questioned the prosecutors’ actions for lack of due process guarantees and accused Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a longtime Maduro ally, of being a “political accuser” who “condemns in advance.” González rejected the interview summons arguing, among other issues, that they did not specify the condition under which he was expected to appear.

“Maduro has lost all touch with reality,” opposition leader María Corina Machado wrote on X after the warrant was issued. “The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-Elect Edmundo González crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement. Venezuelans and democracies around the world are more united than ever in our quest for freedom.”

An AP review of the tally sheets released by the opposition indicates that González won significantly more votes than the government has claimed. The analysis casts serious doubt on the official declaration that Maduro won.

The AP processed almost 24,000 images representing the results from 79% of voting machines, resulting in tabulations of 10.26 million votes. The processed tally sheets also showed González receiving more votes on 20,476 receipts compared to only 3,157 for Maduro.