Pastor's candidacy causes split in PSOL.

247 - The candidacy of Pastor Jeferson Barros for federal deputy has caused a split in the PSOL party. On one side, the Rio de Janeiro branch of the party, in a pre-convention held last Saturday, blocked Jeferson's name as a candidate in the elections. Important figures in the party, such as federal deputies Chico Alencar and Jean Wyllys, and state deputy Marcelo Freixo, have spoken out against the pastor's candidacy, accusing him of homophobia and of having ties to Pastor Silas Malafaia – both from the Assembly of God.

In response, the National Directorate approved Jeferson as a candidate and refuted the criticisms from the regional Executive. In a letter released this Monday, the 23rd, delegates from the party's national convention pointed to "religious intolerance" on the part of Rio's parliamentarians. "PSOL cannot be and will never be a party that condones homophobia or any other form of discrimination, but PSOL will also not be the party of prejudice against religions or churches," says the text, which includes 11 points in defense of Jeferson.

Chico Alencar considered the national decision "a disrespect" to Rio's position and refuted the criticism that the reason for the resistance was the fact that he is a pastor. "The problem, I want to make clear, is not the fact that he is a pastor, since we have two members affiliated with the party. The issue is that he is a fundamentalist," he declared. The PSOL party in Rio also accuses the politician of using the party as a stepping stone, since he was previously affiliated with the PRB and PSD parties.

Read here A statement of repudiation from the PSOL-RJ party, published in the newspaper O Globo, against the pastor's candidacy, and, below, a statement from the delegates of the party's national convention refuting the criticisms and defending Jeferson Barros.