“I’m not going to sit and watch them sew my family,” Bolsonaro said in the video. With that he refers to his sons. Two of them are suspected of spreading misleading information, another of corruption.
The various investigations are ongoing in the state of Rio de Janeiro. “I tried to replace our security people in Rio, but I didn’t succeed. That is now over. You don’t think I’m going to watch them sew my family? If I can’t replace the security people, I’ll replace them boss. If I can’t replace the boss, then the minister, “Bolsonaro said in the video.
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And that’s exactly what happened. In late April, the president fired the head of the federal police. As a result, Justice Minister Sérgio Moro resigned. Moro now accuses Bolsonaro of deliberately firing the head of the federal police because he wanted someone in that place who could provide the president with certain police documents.
Operation Car Wash
“Sérgio Moro was without doubt the most popular minister in Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet,” said Latin America correspondent Sandra Korstjens. “Moro became known as the investigative judge in Operation Car Wash, the largest corruption investigation in Brazilian history.”
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“Moro was the one who convicted former President Lula for corruption. That eliminated Bolsonaro’s main competitor in the race for president in 2018. The fact that Moro is now accusing him of abuse of power was a huge blow to Bolsonaro.”
The prosecution opened an investigation into the Brazilian president in response to Moro’s allegations. Bolsonaro denies doing anything wrong. On Facebook, he says that he was talking about his own security people and not about the federal police. “Another sham dismantled,” he writes. He quotes a line from the Bible book of John: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
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Bolsonaro is not alone in making striking statements in the video. For example, a minister says that mayors and governors who have taken measures against the corona virus should be thrown in prison. In addition, the Minister of the Environment suggests that the government should relax environmental rules now that the media has been distracted by the corona crisis.
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Shocked reactions
The Brazilians do not stop talking about the video. “There was a shocked response. Not only because there was a lot of abuse, but also because of the contempt with which democratic institutions are spoken,” says Korstjens.
The commotion has led to a political crisis. “It comes at the worst possible time for Brazil,” says Korstjens. “The number of corona infections is still rising quickly. 21,048 Brazilians have already died from the consequences. Only in the United States, more infections have been reported, but in Brazil there is also little testing.”
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There is no unanimous approach to combat the virus, says Korstjens. “Bolsonaro fired popular health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta in April because he openly disagreed with the president. And last week, his successor Nelson Teich resigned himself because the president wants the controversial malaria drug chloroquine to be prescribed to all corona patients.”
Governors called shit
In addition, Bolsonaro even called shit the governors of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, to which he is very dissatisfied with strict measures, “.
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Still, it remains to be seen whether the images will have consequences for the president, says Korstjens. “His fanatical supporters, still at least a quarter of Brazilians, probably think his statements are just wonderful. And the Attorney General of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, who is investigating the case, is an ally of the President and appointed by Bolsonaro himself . “
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