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A30 WORLD NEWS
Diasabra 10 Juli 2021

Taking Trump’s cue, Bolsonaro clouds vote with fraud claims

he was harping on the issue University, whose research ible to the voter before being The Associated Press. He
again. “They say I don’t have has focused on democracies deposited into a sealed bal- said it increases the risk of
proof of fraud. You don’t and dictatorships in Latin lot box. In the event of al- coercion and breaches of vote
have proof that there’s no America. leged irregularities with the secrecy by drug traffickers
fraud either!” electronic vote, the presi- and militias. Criminal orga-
Brazil’s electoral tribunal dent argues, results could be nizations have been known
The relentless attack on Bra- organizes and oversees elec- checked by manually count- to corral support for candi-
zil’s electronic voting sys- tions, not the executive ing the printouts. dates and buy votes.
tem has prompted an outcry branch. The president’s press Opponents of the proposal,
and closed-door meetings office did not immediately including the current and fu- Supreme Court Justice Gil-
between lawmakers and Su- comment on whether he will ture presidents of the elector- mar Mendes, a former presi-
(AP) — Brazil’s presiden- preme Court justices to de- present evidence of past elec- al tribunal, all three of whom dent of the electoral tribunal,
tial election is 15 months fend the system. And the na- toral fraud, with the deadline are also Supreme Court jus- said by phone that the current
away, yet barely a day tion’s electoral tribunal last looming in August. tices, say the electronic sys- moment calls for caution.
passes without President month ordered the president tem that began taking shape
Jair Bolsonaro raising the to provide proof of the fraud At Bolsonaro’s order, his ad- in 1996 already allows for “People close to the govern-
specter of fraud and warn- he has repeatedly claimed to ministration has tasked the an audit and that the change ment have used as an argu-
ing that he will be entitled possess, but so far hasn’t pre- federal police with scouring would merely open the way ment that, if it isn’t their way,
to reject the results unless sented. Brazil’s states for reports of for baseless fraud claims. there can’t be an election,”
Congress overhauls the The assault also raises con- fraud from the past 25 years Mendes said. “It became a
voting system. cern that Bolsonaro, who is he can use to support his The tribunal’s president, topic to cultivate crisis. We
far behind in early polls, is claims, according to one of Justice Luís Roberto Bar- saw what happened in the
He has mentioned poten- cribbing from former U.S. his ministers, who spoke on roso, has been on a mission United States.”
tial vote fraud more than 20 President Donald Trump and condition of anonymity be- to quash the proposal in the
times in the past two months laying the groundwork for cause he was not authorized congressional committee that Bolsonaro’s push for vot-
and even floated the idea of his own version of the Jan. 6 to speak publicly. It is also is expected to vote on it next ing reform precedes his
canceling the election alto- Capitol riot in Washington. part of his strategic response week. Last month, he and 2018 election, after which
gether. to opponents of a constitu- two other Supreme Court he claimed many votes cast
“His strategy seems to be that tional reform proposal that justices met with more than for him were diverted to the
“I don’t mind handing over if he can cloud the results of would add printouts of each 40 politicians from across the Workers’ Party candidate.
the government next year, to the election by claiming it is vote to the electronic system, political spectrum to prevent Former President Luiz Inácio
whomever it is, but with an fraudulent or rigged, then he the minister said. the bill from advancing. Lula da Silva, of the Work-
honest vote, not with fraud,” has a better chance of over- ers’ Party, is widely expected
Bolsonaro told supporters turning the results,” said Were the proposal imple- The printed vote is a “risky to run against Bolsonaro in
July 1 outside the presiden- Robert Kaufman, a professor mented, a receipt for each solution to a problem that 2022.
tial residence. Later that day, of political science at Rutgers electronic vote would be vis- does not exist,” Barroso told
52 dead in Bangladesh factory fire as workers locked inside

(AP) — A fire engulfed international brands, which production hours. ment factory in Dhaka.
a food and beverage fac- employ tens of thousands of
tory outside Bangladesh’s low-paid workers in Bangla- “We are a reputed company; The country’s worst Indus-
capital, killing at least 52 desh, have come under heavy we maintain rules,” he said. trial disaster came the fol-
people, many of whom pressure to improve factory “What happened today is lowing year, when the Rana
were trapped inside by an conditions after fires and very sad. We regret it.” Plaza garment factory out-
illegally locked door, fire other disasters killed thou- side Dhaka collapsed, killing
officials said Friday. sands of people. As the recovery effort was more than 1,100 people.
carried out Friday, victims in
The blaze began Thursday The factory that caught fire white body bags were piled Authorities imposed tougher
night at the five-story Hash- Thursday was subsidiary of in a fleet of ambulances as safety rules after that disaster
em Foods Ltd. factory in Sajeeb Group, a Bangladeshi relatives wailed. As the heavy and the country’s garment
Rupganj, just outside Dhaka, company that produces juice smoke continued to rise from industry has since become
sending huge clouds of black under Pakistan’s Lahore- the still smoldering factory, largely compliant under do-
smoke billowing into the sky. based Shezan International weeping family members of mestic and global watchdogs.
Police initially gave a toll of Ltd., said Kazi Abdur Rah- missing workers waited anx- But many other local indus-
three dead, but then discov- Bangladesh agency reported. man, the group’s senior gen- iously for news of loved ones tries fail to maintain safety
ered piles of bodies on Friday eral manager for export. outside the charred site. compliance and the disasters
afternoon after the fire was Information about how have continued.
extinguished. many people were in the According to the group’s Earlier, family members
factory and how many were website, the company ex- clashed with police as they In February 2019, a blaze
So far 52 bodies have been missing was not immediately ports its products to a num- waited overnight without ripped through a 400-year-
recovered, but the top two available. ber of countries including any word of the fate of their old area cramped with apart-
floors of the factory have yet Australia, the United States, loved ones. ments, shops and warehouses
to be searched, said Debasish “For now, we only have these Malaysia, Singapore, India, in the oldest part of Dhaka
Bardhan, deputy director of details. After searching the Bhutan, Nepal and nations in The government ordered an and killed at least 67 people.
the Fire Service and Civil top floors we will be able the Middle East and Africa. investigation into the cause Another fire in Old Dhaka
Defense. to get a complete picture,” of the fire. in a house illegally storing
Bardhan said. Rahman told The Associated chemicals killed at least 123
He said the main exit of the Press by phone that the com- Past industrial tragedies have people in 2010.
factory was locked from the Bangladesh has a tragic his- pany is fully compliant with often been attributed to safe-
inside and many of those tory of industrial disasters, international standards, but ty lapses that still plague the The International Labor Or-
who died were trapped. including factories catch- he was not certain whether South Asian country despite ganization said in a 2017 re-
ing fire with the workers the exit of the factory was its rapid economic growth. port that Bangladesh’s regu-
Many workers jumped from locked inside. Continuing locked. According to Ban- latory framework and inspec-
the upper floors of the fac- corruption and lax enforce- gladesh’s factory laws, a fac- In 2012, about 117 workers tions “had not been able to
tory, and at least 26 suffered ment have resulted in many tory cannot lock its exit when died when they were trapped keep pace with the develop-
injuries, the United News of deaths over the years, and big workers are inside during behind locked exits in a gar- ment of the industry.”