UPDATE - Thousands Of Bolsonaro's Supporters Call On Brazilian Military To Keep Him In Power

RIO DE JANEIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2022) Thousands of supporters of the outgoing Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, who recently lost the presidential election, called on the military to keep him in power, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Bolsonaro's defenders gathered in front of the eastern military command in Rio de Janeiro, demanding that the military organize a coup against the newly-elected left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"The military, the armed forces must take power in the country and elect a president, they can leave our current president in power," a demonstrator called Leonard told Sputnik.

Demonstrators chanted "Immediate intervention," "Let the armed forces save Brazil," and claimed alleged fraud on the part of Lula da Silva's team.

"I'm afraid that (with the arrival of leftist politician Lula da Silva) communism will be established in Brazil," former military Reginaldo told Sputnik.

The demonstration proceeded in a peaceful manner. Participants did not violate the boundaries of the security zone established at the military command building.

Residents of the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo also called on the country's military to organize a coup and prevent Lula from coming to power, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

"Yes, we want the military to intervene because we do not accept the election results. Everyone knows that there was a fraud because figures do not match, the vote count does not match," a citizen called Luisina told Sputnik, adding that "we do not want a review of the (election) results, we want an intervention."

On Tuesday, Bolsonaro refrained from commenting on the recognition or non-recognition of its results in his first statements after losing the election on October 30.

Winning the Sunday vote, Lula, 76, will now become the leader of Brazil from 2023-2027. This will be his third term. Lula was Brazil's head of state for two consecutive terms in 2003-2010, but a series of corruption allegations resulted in his imprisonment. He began serving his 12-year sentence in 2018, but Brazil's Supreme Court later annulled the case and Lula was released from prison in 2019.