RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Jair Bolsonaro and Elon Musk met on Friday in São Paulo in a meeting in which the Brazilian president sought an ally to reject criticism of his management of the Amazon and gave his support to the tycoon’s project to buy Twitter in the name of freedom of expression.
After the meeting, in which the Brazilian leader did not spare Musk’s praise, both announced the launch of a satellite connection program for 19,000 isolated schools and “environmental monitoring” of the Amazon rainforest to be implemented by the South African-born billionaire’s SpaceX company.
For his part, Musk said that the installation of his Starlink satellite network for both tasks is “very good” for “educational and environmental” reasons.
However, details of the agreement were not disclosed.
“It’s [Musk’s] first visit here, the first contact, the beginning of a sentimental relationship that, I’m sure, will end in marriage shortly,” Bolsonaro declared.
The meeting, which the Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, also attended, took place in a luxurious hotel in the interior of the state of São Paulo, guarded by several police cars.
Heavily criticized for his environmental policies and record deforestation and fire figures in the largest rainforest on the planet, Bolsonaro added that he is counting on Musk to show “how we preserve the Amazon.”
“And [to show] how much harm those who spread lies about that region cause us,” he added.
The meeting generated a great deal of buzz. The hashtag #BolsonaroMusk trended No. 1 in Brazil on Friday.
Minister Faria explained at a press conference that the satellites would provide the government with tools to collaborate in controlling deforestation.
“Some of Musk’s satellites have a laser that detects the noise of the electric saw” of those who deforest forests, the minister explained. He added that the satellites would help monitor “hot spots” in the region to control possible illegal fires.
Brasilia had announced in November that it was negotiating an agreement with Musk to obtain satellite internet in the Amazon rainforest.
According to Forbes magazine, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is currently the world’s richest person, with a fortune estimated at more than US$200 billion.
He announced his plan to buy the social network Twitter last month, for which he offered US$44 billion.
Bolsonaro and his followers celebrated the announcement with euphoria, who aspire to less censorship and more freedom of speech on social networks.
“BREATH OF HOPE”
“The example you gave us when the purchase of Twitter was announced, to us, it left a breath of hope,” the president told Musk.
Due to the control policy in force on Twitter, several publications of Bolsonaro were censored from the network for alleged “disinformation”.
Musk has said that his proposed purchase is motivated by a desire to ensure freedom of speech on the platform and declared himself in favor of lifting the veto against former President Donald Trump, imposed after the attacks on Capitol Hill in January 2021.
Musk’s offer, however, is on hold until the entrepreneur gets assurances on the estimated number of fake accounts on the platform.