“My Government Is One of the Most Democratic in Recent Years,” Bolsonaro Claims

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said yesterday, November 5th, that his government is one of the most democratic in recent years in Brazil.

To substantiate the statement, Bolsonaro said he never advocated that the Internet should be “tamed” even though he considers himself one of the greatest victims of fake news in last year’s elections. Other candidates did not struggle with the issue or “very little so,” he said.

“We know that, unfortunately, here in Brazil there are some bad Brazilians who are always plotting how to get to power. They don’t care by what means. We cannot tolerate this. I doubt that my government is not one of the most democratic in recent years. After all, I have never discussed the social control of the media. I have never said that the Internet should be tamed,” he argued.

In a speech, Bolsonaro said it required patience and determination to solve Brazil’s problems and that he “never” aimed to be Brazil’s President, although his father told him he would one day reach the Planalto.

He then recollected when he joined the Army, and celebrated the year 1974, when Brazil was living under a military dictatorship, minimizing protests.

“At that time, in ’74, the military was on the rise. Brazil grew almost ten percent a year. We had peace, prosperity, full employment. Brazil was flying. Some problems always happen. They happen to anyone of us, with our respective wife or husband, where from time to time there is some mutual misunderstanding. But deep down, what we want is to do something useful for the next person,” he said.

In his speech, the president again criticized the work of the press in the country. According to him, “if we only rely on one media outlet, we run the risk of being a defendant without having committed a crime and losing our rights without having the right to defense”.

He declared to “deplore” that part of mainstream media that wants to “pin on him” the execution of city councilor Marielle Franco and wondered what their interest would be. The statement is in response to a report by TV Globo suggesting that one of the condominium gatekeepers where Bolsonaro keeps his home in Rio de Janeiro said that one of the murder suspects had requested to go to the president’s house on the day of the murder.

The Vivendas da Barra condominium is also the one where Ronnie Lessa, pointed out by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Civil Police as the perpetrator of the gunshots that killed Marielle and Anderson, had a home.

Bolsonaro said he felt for the victims’ families and wanted the crime to be solved. “I would be going against my Christian principles first”. Then he said he hoped his stabbing would also be unraveled. “Who tried to kill Jair Bolsonaro?” he asked.

Yesterday, November 5th, the Presidency held a ceremony in the grand hall of the Planalto Palace to commemorate the current administration’s 300 days. The main results of the Presidential Office were “the fight against crime, the fight against corruption, and the resumption of economic growth”.

In a video released at the event, the government emphasized the recuperation of patriotism as well as actions such as the 13th-month Family Grant bonus, rehabilitating highways, infrastructure auctions and a bill that facilitates the carrying of weapons. This was followed by effusive applause and cries of “legend” to Bolsonaro. The majority of the audience was made up of government officials and allied deputies.

In a speech, the presidential chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, argued in favor of the policy adopted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the command of Ernesto Araújo, and praised his colleagues Damares Alves, Minister of Human Rights and Paulo Guedes, Minister of Economy.

Onyx praised the positive numbers of agricultural harvests, investor confidence in the country, the fight against crime – “criminals are being dealt with as criminals” – and zero corruption on the part of the government, he said.

The minister also mentioned the existence of an “extremist press”, in his view, marked by pointing out any mistakes or criticizing the government, the role of journalists in democratic countries.

During the ceremony, President Bolsonaro signed the following documents:

Provisional Measure ending the monopoly of the Brazilian Mint;
Bill providing for the privatization of Eletrobras;
Revocation of 257 decrees that “hinder and bureaucratize people’s lives”;
Revocation of 334 “inactive or inoperative” collegiate bodies;
Establishment of 77 International Labor Organization Conventions;
Extension of PROFESP (Forces in Sport Program);
Simplification of sugar cane agricultural zoning.

Source: UOL