Brazil’s Bolsonaro skips Congress’ Independence celebration

By CARLA BRIDI
Associated Press

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has skipped a congressional celebration of the country’s independence bicentennial. It comes a day after he used the national festivities as a campaign event for his reelection. His absence on short notice added to a rift with top congressional authorities and Supreme Court justices. They themselves had broken a long tradition by avoiding Wednesday’s Independence Day celebrations — a military parade that Bolsonaro had turned into a rally of vast crowds of supporters ahead of next month’s presidential vote. Five parties have filed complaints with the electoral court arguing he should be disqualified for using the government event as a campaign rally.