Flour harvest at the Assembly illuminates helicopter from the dust.
Public takes to the steps of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais to protest against the case of the powder helicopter; the aircraft of state deputy Perrellinha (Solidariedade) was seized with 450 kilos of the drug; fuel and pilot were paid with funds from the house; Jornal Nacional, by William Bonner, which on Wednesday was discreet about the fact, in the edition of this Thursday (28), yielded to the subject.
247 - It was no use for Rede Globo to hide as much as possible the scandal of the cocaine helicopter, which is shaking the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais. Since the seizure, when it was transporting 450 kilos of cocaine, of the aircraft belonging to the agricultural company of state deputy Gustavo Perrella (SDD), his sister Carolina Perrella and his cousin André Almeida Costa, Jornal Nacional – considered the main news program of the Marinho family's network – has been discreet about the case. Another flagship of traditional media, the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, has also sought to report the news with the utmost discretion. Why?
Even without knowing the exact answer, hundreds of citizens of Minas Gerais decided to create a new event to rouse the media from its lethargy. On Thursday afternoon, protesters took over the steps of the Minas Gerais Legislative Assembly with dozens of bags of white flour – a clear allusion to cocaine. Lines, as they say in user slang, were stretched along the steps. And young people simulated, with banknotes, sniffing what appeared to be the drug.
With good humor, the protest sought to draw attention to a scandalous case in which it was discovered that even the fuel for the cocaine helicopter, in addition to the salary of the arrested pilot, was paid for with public money.hereToday, the Assembly's Board announced that it has prohibited the use of expense allowances to pay for fuel for deputies' vehicles.
The measure came too late, with no impact to prevent the humiliating protest for the House and, especially, for the congressman who owns the aircraft that served the most serious drug trafficking. There is no news so far, however, that Congressman Perrellinha is considering resigning – nor that his father, Senator and former president of Cruzeiro, Zezé Perrella, will make any statement about the case.
It remains to be seen whether, tonight, William Bonner's Jornal Nacional will finally report this news – and whether, tomorrow, photos of the protest will be on the front page of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. Anywhere in the world, the seizure of 450 kilos of cocaine in a helicopter belonging to a congressman who is the son of a senator would be major news. But in Brazil, with its old media...