New coalition of activists realizes consecutive protests, and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro cancels New York visit

New York, May 3, 2019

Nova York, 3 de maio , 2019

Marriott Marquis Hotel Times Square

A coalition to #cancelBolsonaro united online and in direct actions, with petitions, letters and protests addressed to the supporters of the event of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce "Person of the Year" award that intended to honor Jair Bolsonaro, the racist, homophobic, misogynist; Amazon, indigenous and workers rights attacker, and President of Brazil.

A 14-day action with protests was set everyday at 5:30pm, when the activists met in front of the venue , the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, which had refused to pull out of the event. On the 5th consecutive day, the Foreign Ministry of Bolsonaro announced that he would not travel to New York, due to the pressure against him by the activists, the Mayor, and some corporate sponsors of the event.

The coalition #cancelBolsonaro was organized by Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee- NY with Rise and Resist, Revolting Lesbians, Earth Strike NYC, Extinction Rebellion Amazonia, Rev Billy & Stop Shopping Choir, Mulheres da Resistência, Alerta NYC, Coletivo Humanas, United Against Racism & Fascism, Metropolitan Anarchist Coordination Council, United Artists & Activists Union, Party for Socialism and Liberation- NY, Reclaim Pride with support from NY Senator Brad Hoylman

#wecancelledBolsonaro #nóscancelamosBolsonaro

With such bad reputation and amid a growing crisis in his disastrous government, it became obvious that Bolsonaro could not step in NYC through such a wave of opposition by activists, and with such large repercussion. Nonetheless, the cancellation already reverberated through all independent media outlets, as well as in the New York Times, the Guardian, ABC News, Bloomberg, Globo, El País, Folha de São Paulo, Fox News, CNN, and dozens of other large outlets.

As of today, 67 thousand people had signed the petition to #cancelBolsonaro at the Marriott Marquis, after a victory of a cancellation with 25 thousand signatures, for the same event scheduled at first at the American Museum of Natural History.

We thank all the activists, cientists, students, citizens, and also Senator Hoylman and Mayor De Blasio, who helped put pressure in this campaign. Also thank you to the sponsors of the event that decided to pull out in time: Delta, Financial Times, Bain and Co. We will remember those who did not pull out and defended the award, and the Marriott, who did not understand that:

Social responsibility has NO price!

#DefendDemocracyinBrazil

#saynotoracism

#saynotofascism

#saynotobigotry

#defendtheAmazon

#defendtheIndigenouspeople

#shameonMarriott

Activists protest the Marriott Marquis Hotel on a 5th consecutive day, against the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce award to Jair Bolsonaro #wecancelledBolsonaro Photo: George Day/ Rise and Resist