Jean Wyllys Travels Abroad and Says “Stupidity Virus” Strikes Part of Brazil

By Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Nearly a month after resigning from his legislative office and leaving the country under threat, former federal deputy Jean Wyllys is touring Europe giving talks on the political situation at home. He started in Berlin and claims to have already been invited to speak in Portugal, France, Sweden, and Canada.

“Not everyone is contaminated by the stupidity virus and the prejudice that has infected the new government of Brazil and some of the voters cheering for it,” he said last Monday, June 18th, just before lecturing at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, linked to the Die Linke, a left-wing German party.

“The current Minister of Justice intends to legalize and broaden the potential for people to be murdered. Behind it is an attempt to legalize the oppression against the political opposition to Bolsonaro’s government,” he said, according to Radio France Internationale (RFI).

In an interview with Folha de S.Paulo, Wyllys cast doubt on Sergio Moro’s commitment, while the Federal Police is under his jurisdiction, to investigate the denunciations of threats made against him. “I don’t trust his willingness to get to the bottom of this, because I am convinced that, in the depths of this sewer, there are people connected to the family who invited him to be Minister of Justice.”

Closely linked to the LGBT cause, Wyllys was one of the best known left-wing faces in federal congress, and is now somewhat bewildered by the rise in conservativism that came with the president’s inauguration.

“The leftists are still stunned by the absurd result of the elections. They are in a process of agreeing and designing strategies,” he says. “The leftists must set aside their differences and unite in a common project against this horror.”

“Leaving the country was an action for my life, but also a political message to the world,” he says. He further claims to have had enough of “the blatant bias” of the judiciary, the federal prosecutor and the press, “who have forgotten their role in upholding democracy and have empowered political illiterates.”

According to him, the French government offered him political asylum, but he chose not to accept it because it would take too long and because he believes that there are others in need of it. Alternatively, he will seek a student or researcher visa in Germany. It is through intellectual and literary activities that he hopes to oppose Bolsonaro’s government.