A day after dismissing the president of Brazil’s state owned oil giant Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco on Friday, February 19th, and appointing General Joaquim Silva e Luna to replace him, President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Saturday that he will make more changes inside the government next week, affirming that if it were up to him, Brazil would not be a democracy.
“Some think I can do everything. If everything depended on me, this would not be the regime we would be living in. Despite everything, I represent democracy in Brazil”, he said during an event at the Army Cadet Preparatory School (EspCEX), located in the city of Campinas, in the state of São Paulo.
"If the press is concerned about yesterday's change, next week we will have more. What I don't lack is the courage to take action, while thinking about the greater good of our nation," said the president.
Over the weekend, President Jair Bolsonaro was the target of protests in at least 15 states. The demonstrations calling for "Fora, Bolsonaro", which translates to “Bolsonaro Out”, began this Saturday while Bolsonaro participated in the event at the Cadet academy.
The change in command at Petrobras came after Bolsonaro’s criticism of successive increases in fuel prices. Recently, the price of gasoline saw its fourth rise this year, accumulating a total increase of 34.7% thus far. Diesel saw its third spike for the year, and is now 27.7% more expensive in 2021. Consumers foot the bill: in the case of gasoline, starting last Friday (19th), a liter cost R $ 2.48, an increase of 23 cents.
