Bolsonaro's 8 fallacies in Davos

By Alex Solnik, columnist for 247 and member of Journalists for Democracy

In his brief speech in Davos, the then-president, Jair Bolsonaro, committed at least eight fallacies: 

1) "Spending less than $1 million and with eight seconds of TV time, while being unfairly attacked the entire time, we achieved victory." That's not true. The real costs of the campaign are still unknown, but they were certainly much higher, judging by the prices of sending WhatsApp messages. The TSE (Superior Electoral Court) is still investigating whether there were any illegalities in the campaign financing. There are also suspicions of illegal practices of mass messaging. It's also not true that he attacked all the time; on the contrary, he was the one who attacked Haddad, Lula, and the PT with insults, slander, defamation, and was the king of hate speech.

2) “For the first time in Brazil, a president has assembled a team of qualified ministers.” If he thinks that Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, Minister Damares Alves, Ministers Ricardo Salles and Ricardo Velez Rodriguez are qualified for the positions they were chosen for, it means he doesn't know qualified people, or he rejected them, as was the case with the educator from the Ayrton Senna Institute. To say that there has never been a qualified cabinet in Brazil is to ignore the past and recent history of the country he governs. 

3) "We have the credibility to make the reforms the country needs." Lie. Recent Datafolha polls show that the majority of Brazilians disagree with the government's initial measures and its main proposals.

(Learn about and support the project) Journalists for Democracy)

4) "Sérgio Moro is here among us to reinforce our concern with combating corruption and money laundering." On the contrary: his son Flávio sought his protection amidst accusations of suspected money laundering, and he protected him and remains silent about the scandal, just like Minister Sérgio Moro.

5) "We are the country that best preserves the environment." If he had any serious concern for the environment, he would have appointed as minister someone who is an expert on the subject and has a proven reputation, and not a far-right ideologue who demonstrates no knowledge or respect for the topic and whose main hobby is firearms. 

6) “We want to govern by example.” If that’s the case, the president must demand convincing explanations from his son regarding the suspicions of money laundering and involvement with militias accused of killing Marielle, and not collaborate with his silence, as he has done so far. If he wants to govern by example, he must prove with documents the loan transaction to his friend Queiroz, about which doubts still linger.

7) “Ideological bias will cease to exist.” What, then, are their aggressions against Venezuela? Does Brazil have some unresolved issue with its neighbor that justifies such hostile behavior? What is it, if not far-right ideological bias?

8) “We are seeking, through knowledge, to reduce poverty and misery.” If that were true, the head of the Ministry of Education should be the best educator in the country and not an obscure Colombian who defends an abomination called the “School Without Parties” movement, condemns Paulo Freire, and aligns himself against “cultural Marxism.” If the idea was to reduce misery, he shouldn't have cut R$8 from the minimum wage, which is the wage of the destitute.

(Learn about and support the project) Journalists for Democracy)