It was exactly 10:30 am last Sunday (25), in heavy rain, when friends Lúcia Helena Canhada Lopes, 68, and Maria Eli Silva, 58, left the hotel towards Cruzeiro square. At the location, a crowd gathered for the arrival of the walk with the deputy (-MG).
Both women were hit and fell in the square during the event, and Maria Eli remains hospitalized in the ICU at Hospital Santa Marta, in Taguatinga (DF). The episode left 89 victims, of which 47 were taken to emergency care units.
The decision to go to Brasília occurred after Maria Eli sent Lúcia a video of the deputy, who they consider to be a good person. Lúcia was at her home in Olímpia () and encouraged her friend by saying: “At the age we are, we can’t feel like it.”
The two have known each other for around 40 years and often travel around the country together.
Maria Eli left Jacareí (interior SP) on Thursday (22), after celebrating her birthday with her two children. He went to São Paulo and took a bus to Olímpia, where he met Lúcia the next day. The two left by car on the same day.
Before the trip, they placed a Brazilian flag on the vehicle with the phrase: “Deal with Bolsonaro” and created a social media profile to share records of the journey. Due to tiredness, they stopped to sleep in Cristalina (GO) and arrived in Brasília on Saturday.
On Sunday, in the square, Lúcia heard a loud bang and fainted. When he regained consciousness, still at the scene, he said he initially thought it was an attack.
Then she saw people taking her friend under a blue tent. Maria Eli presented a more serious condition, with intense body pain, described as a burning sensation. She had burns on her neck and part of her breast.
The two were taken by ambulance to the Asa Norte Regional Hospital. Maria Eli was later transferred to Santa Marta Hospital and remains in the ICU. In one of the consultations, she received morphine to control the pain and, according to her friend, she has shown clinical improvement.
Regarding the risk of death in the incident, she stated: “If I had died, it wouldn’t have been a problem either. I would die for a just, noble cause.”
Lúcia states that the decision to go to Brasília was motivated by the agenda defended by whom she describes as an honest person. He says he believes that the country should be led by representatives who, in his opinion, make good use of public resources. She criticizes President Lula’s government.
According to Lúcia, the feeling of patriotism precedes the current political situation. In 2017, she walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela for 33 days, carrying the Brazilian flag. The link with the country also appears in the objects she wears, such as a Brazilian flag attached to her bag, as well as earrings and a necklace in green and yellow.
She identifies politically with the right and states that the former president “put right-wing feelings” very strongly in her heart.
Lúcia says she did not participate in the events on January 8, although she considered going to Brasília at the time. He states that he rarely participates in demonstrations and that he was at an event with Bolsonaro in Olímpia only because he was in the city on the same date.
Despite identifying as right-wing, she emphasizes that she maintains a critical stance, analyzing people individually, as she does not believe that someone is good just because they belong to this political spectrum.
For Lúcia, the vote should be based on the work the person does and not just because they like the public figure.
