Bolsonaro Claims Critics of Brazilian Torturer Ustra Are Imprisoned Due to Moro’s Courage
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a speech at the Palácio do Planalto on Wednesday, October 2nd, President Jair Bolsonaro once again referred to Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, the first military officer convicted of kidnapping and torture during the military dictatorship.
Without mentioning him, Bolsonaro said he rescued the “honor of a great Army colonel” and told the minister of Justice, Sérgio Moro, present at the event, that many of the colonel’s critics are imprisoned in Curitiba “thanks to his (Moro’s) courage”.
Throughout his public life, Bolsonaro has made several complimentary statements to Ustra.
The most notorious statement occurred while the current president was a federal deputy in 2016 when he voted for the impeachment of then-President Dilma Rousseff – one of the victims of DOI-Codi, the Brazilian intelligence and repression agency during the military government.
The president spoke yesterday at a ceremony on the new stage of Operation Shelter, which promotes assistance to Venezuelan refugees migrating to Brazil. At the event, two documents were signed: one establishing a private fund for donations to the Operation program and the other a protocol of intent to encourage municipalities to receive refugees.
Bolsonaro said that “more important” than “restoring freedom and peace in Venezuela” is to cooperate so that neighboring countries do not move closer to what “our beloved Venezuelan people” are experiencing. “Brazil, I pray to God. Don’t flirt with socialism any longer,” he said.
The president also said that Venezuela is “living proof” that the armed forces decide whether or not there will be “freedom and democracy”.
“It is its Armed Forces that uphold the Venezuelan dictatorship,” he said.
Source: Estadao
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