Podcast affair: Bolsonaro calls to reject Nazism and any other totalitarian ideology in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called Wednesday to reject Nazi ideology. A day earlier, prosecutors announced they were opening investigations into a possible crime of apologizing for Nazism by federal deputy Kim Kataguiri and an Internet moderator.

“Nazi ideology must be unreservedly and permanently rejected, without reservations that allow it to flourish, just like any totalitarian ideology that threatens the fundamental rights of peoples and individuals, such as the right to life and liberty,” the president wrote at the beginning of a lengthy message on his Twitter account.

Bolsonaro added that the fact that an ideology such as Nazism, which he called “repugnant,” has destroyed millions of lives requires the utmost responsibility and seriousness in dealing with the issue and leaves “no room for slander, defamation, and trivialization.”

“You don’t fight injustice with injustice,” he said.

He also said he was proud to be the president who had brought Brazil closer to the Jews, “whether by intensifying bilateral relations with Israel or by supporting important initiatives such as the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA),” which his country had joined during his term.

Finally, the president called for reflection from those who insist on defending the division of people by race/ethnicity and other premises of Nazism, as well as those who “in a cruel lack of respect for the Jewish people trivialize a grave fact for their political promotion.”

“We are a wonderful and hospitable people. I repeat: there is more diversity in a Brazilian family than in any other nation in the world. Brazil will never have fertile ground for totalitarianism because the love of freedom flows through our veins. Those who wish otherwise are on the wrong side,” he concluded.

On Tuesday, the Brazilian Prosecutor General’s Office announced that it will open an investigation into a possible crime of apologizing for Nazism committed by federal deputy Kim Kataguiri and Flow Podcat host Bruno Monteiro Aiub, known as “Monark,” during a program broadcast on the Internet.

In an interview for the program, the host defended the legality of a Nazi party in Brazil, arguing that the “extreme left” is better represented in politics than the extreme right.

For his part, Kataguiri, who belongs to the same party as former judge Sérgio Moro (Podemos), affirmed that it was a “mistake” for Germany to have banned the Nazi party.