RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL - As Trump funds influencers to manipulate the Brazilian election, he is getting help in his quest from Elon Musk, who is blocking accounts that post critiques of the Bolsonaro-Trump alliance. This week, the National Conference of Bishops of Brasil lost access to its X account.
Polling shows that Catholics, 57% of all Brazilians, consistently support Lula. Meanwhile, evangelicals, who for decades have received heavy financial backing and missionary support from US-based right-wing evangelicals, make up 27% of all Brazilians and consistently back Bolsonaro.
On Thursday, polling released by Datafolha found Catholics backing Lula by 45% to 33%, while evangelicals backed Bolsonaro by 47% to 27%.
This week, the fight between evangelicals and Catholics intensified after it emerged that some of Flavio Bolsonaro’s allies wanted to end Brasil’s practice of celebrating the Saint Day of the patron saint of Brasil, Nossa Senhora Aparecida, a Black saint, as a national holiday in Brasil, a move designed to decrease the influence of the Lula-friendly Catholic Church.
Globo TV initially reported that Flavio Bolsonaro told evangelicals in the past that he supported his allies' move to remove Saint Day as a national holiday. However, Flavio Bolsonaro has denied backing the measure, but Catholics and members of Lula’s team have used the controversy to reaffirm their commitment to Catholicism in Brasil.
Yesterday, Brazilian first lady Janja Lula took to Instagram to post a photo of Lula holding up an image of the saint with the message, “Nossa Senhora Aparecida, patron saint of Brazil, look over us!”
As controversy swirled around defending Nossa Senhora Aparecida, the National Conference of Bishop of Brasil’s X account was suddenly shut down.
“The Communications Office of the National Conference of Bishops of Brasil (CNBB) reports that it is experiencing difficulties accessing the institution's official account on the X platform, @cnbbnacional,” the office said in a statement to the press.
In recent weeks, the National Conference of Bishops of Brasil had used its X account to denounce foreign election interference and defend Brazilian national sovereignty.
On social media this week, Dom Orlando Brandes, Archbishop Emeritus of Aparecida, declared in an eulogy celebrating the saint that the Church denounced outside interference in Brazilian elections.
“We will defend our sovereignty,” said Brandes on social media this week. “No outside power—whoever it may be—should rule here. This is our sovereignty, this is our home, this is our homeland.”
X did not comment on why it had blocked the National Conference of Bishops of Brasil from its account. However, the conference told the press on Saturday that it was in contact with X and trying to regain control of its account.
“The CNBB (National Conference of Bishops of Brasil) has already contacted the platform's support team and is carrying out the necessary procedures to recover access to the profile,” said the Conference in a statement on Friday. “The requested information and proof regarding account ownership and management have already been submitted.”
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