The producer and businesswoman, 56, states that it was not on the left, but from civil society. She played a key role in organizing the demonstrations around the country, in articulation between 342 arts, collective artists led by her, and Ninja media.
“I do not think this was a manifestation aside or another. I do not see it. I see as a revolt of civil society that was organized, pulled by artists, of course, who have long participated in the public debate, with the congressional impunity agenda,” says Paula. “Don’t delimit, I don’t like boxes and drawers, and the [Veloso, marido de Paula] Say this: ‘I never had a restrictive political definition. I do not enter a defined block. I’m an artist ‘. And artist is part of society, manifesting is right and duty. “
At first, the acts against amnesty and the PEC of armor had been summoned by and by the MTST (Movement of Workers without ceiling), supported by the Fentes Popular and People without Fear. The mobilization only intensified, but when the artists started to call on the presence of the population by social networks. The protests spread throughout the country’s capitals, having greater adhesion in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
“What happened now was a cry that enough, enough, of the tiredness of people with the detachment of the political debate in Brasilia and the yearnings of society. We demonstrate that artists, organized civil society, progressive field, all together, united, are able to bring crowds to the streets to defend democracy,” says Paula. “We wanted an act with a clear political message, but based on the culture, the strength of music and the weight of the artists present there, not the incitement of violence. Our weapon is art.”
Approved in the House, the armor PEC makes it difficult for criminal investigation of parliamentarians. The text, which must still pass through, where it faces resistance, proposes that congressmen cannot be processed without prior authorization from the legislature, in secret vote and without a nominal record.
In parallel, Congress articulates a proposal to reduce the dosimetry of the penalties of those convicted by the attempted coup d’état of 2022 and on January 8. The project could benefit the former president, sentenced to more than 27 years in prison. According to USP (University of São Paulo), protests in Rio and São Paulo on September 7. In Copacabana, there were 41,800 people, and on Paulista Avenue, 42,400 went to the streets.
Although politicians spoke in the state capital, the leadership of the artistic class was evident, especially in Rio de Janeiro, where central names of Brazilian culture – – they starred a musical act, singing classics such as “joy, joy” and “chalice”.
Paula’s political leadership is not new to those who have been with Brazilian cultural life for at least a decade. In 2016, she mobilized the artistic class and started the 342 arts campaign, against censorship and criminalization of art. At the time, the collective tried to prevent. The producer denies now the attacks of Bolsonarists, who compare the Amnesty of 1979 to the current proposal. According to the narrative of the rightists, Caetano and Gil would have been amnesty and now want to block an amnesty to the scammers of January 8, 2023.
“It was curious to see the Bolsonarist digital militias complain of the artists who were allegedly amnesty after the military dictatorship and today work against the amnesty. It is false. First because Caetano and Gil, for example, were not amnesty. They were arrested without reason, placed in a lone and then expelled from Brazil. They do, “says Paula .. The businesswoman also counteract criticism of the new generations of artists.
Some comments on the networks questioned the initiative or the absence of younger singers and composers, noting that the movement had been triggered by names of the 1960 generation, responsible for the fight against censorship during the military dictatorship. Paula praises, however, the presence of Marina Sena, the Garotin, Zé Ibarra, Lucas Nunes, Maria Gadú and Pretinho da Serrinha, among others, in São Paulo, Belém and Belo Horizonte.
“None of the young artists have heard when we call them. The call for the act began with the video of Caetano Veloso, which is so young that it cannot even be president of the Republic. She was not present Sunday for schedule reasons, but made a video that exemplified the shield PEC effectively for all social strata,” she says.
Finally, Paula rules out any pretense in institutional policy, given her power of articulation and mobilization.
“I do not do this to apply or to be seen as political leadership. I am in the name of culture and artists’ rights. I am a soldier of the artistic cause, my artists are the artists. What I do is to help them put into practice what they want today. And today many of them want to defend democracy against authoritarianism, amnesty and against the armor of criminals,” he says.
