Brazilian Economy Minister exposes report of 33 million starving Brazilians as Fake News

Economy Minister Paulo Guedes criticized the study on the number of Brazilians affected by food insecurity, saying, “33 million people who are hungry is a lie.”

He also said, “We are transferring 1.5% of GDP to the poorest with Brazil Aid, three times more than they received before.”

The statement was made on Wednesday (Sept. 19) during an event organized by Fenabrave (National Association of Automobile Distribution) in São Paulo.

At another time, the minister said, “It can’t be that 33 million people have to go hungry. There has been inflation, but it has not been three times higher. This new income transfer will more than maintain purchasing power.”

Guedes was referring to data from the 2nd National Food Insecurity Survey related to the Covid 19 pandemic in Brazil, conducted by Rede Penssan (Brazilian Food Sovereignty and Security and Nutrition Research Network) published in June of this year. Here is the full text.

According to the research, around 33 million people suffer from hunger in Brazil. This is almost double the number registered for 2020.

It also says that more than half (58.7%) of the Brazilian population suffers from food insecurity.