A comment by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in a podcast about some Venezuelan teenagers caused a stir on the networks, where they called him a pedophile, provoking the anger of the president, who got out of bed to defend himself in a live broadcast this Sunday.
The president said that during a motorcycle ride through a neighboring community of Brasilia he saw some Venezuelan girls, 14 and 15 years old, and that when he saw that “pintou um clima” (that there was attraction in the popular Brazilian language), he asked to enter in his house.
“I stopped the motorcycle on a corner, took off my helmet and looked at some girls, three, four, pretty, 14, 15 years old, all dressed up on a Saturday in a community. I saw that they were similar. I paint a weather, I came back. ‘Can I go into your house?’
“There were about 15, 20 girls on that Saturday morning getting ready. All Venezuelan. And I ask: pretty girls of 14, 15 years getting ready on a Saturday, what for? To make a living. Do you want that for your daughter who is listening to us now? », she added.
The president’s statements were given when he reiterated his speech that Brazil could become a Venezuela if former progressive president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wins the presidency, and that situations like that of adolescents would begin to be seen in the country.
“Disgusting” and “pedophile” were some of the comments made by Internet users on social networks, and the latter description became a trend on Twitter.
The situation provoked Bolsonaro’s anger and made him get out of bed this Sunday to make a live broadcast in which he accused the Workers’ Party, Lula’s formation, of causing the stir on the networks and misrepresenting his statements.
“The PT crossed all limits. For a short time they have been talking barbarities, they get into my private life, they do barbarities. Now they made one that crossed all limits,” Bolsonaro said.
In the broadcast, which he made shortly after midnight and lasted about 10 minutes, the far-right leader explained that the comment he made sought to show his outrage with situations like the one he saw with those “humble and well-groomed girls,” “that they fled famine in their country” and are struggling to make ends meet.
He also said that he visited the house where the Venezuelan adolescents were accompanied by other people and that this situation, which occurred two years ago, was broadcast live by his team and later reported by CNN.
Lula and Bolsonaro will meet in the second round of the presidential elections on October 30.
The latest poll, released on Friday by the Datafolha firm, indicates that the former trade unionist has 49% of the voting intentions, compared to 44% for the far-right.