Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro apologized Tuesday over remarks he made while recounting a meeting he had last year with a group of Venezuelan girls in a poor neighborhood of the capital which had drawn sharp criticism from the country’s opposition.
Fighting for re-election in an October 30 runoff against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio #LuladaSilva, #JairBolsonaro has been swept up in a firestorm over his remarks about the underage Venezuelan girls, whom he called "very pretty". https://t.co/H6i2YrTb5f
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) October 19, 2022
On Sunday, opposition officials condemned the far-right incumbent's remarks, which they said implied that some Venezuelan teenagers he had visited in their home had turned to prostitution to survive.
Bolsonaro shared a video online Tuesday showing him standing alongside his wife and first lady Michelle Bolsonaro and Maria Teresa Belandria, the Venezuelan opposition representative in Brazil.
2021 is the deadliest year on record for homicides of transgender ppl across the world. 96% of victims were transgender women. Half of those women were sex workers. #Brazil is the most dangerous place in the world 2 be transgender or gender non conforming. https://t.co/clulsvUIJX
— JD Kelleher (@jd_kelleher) December 30, 2021
At the start of the video, he took aim at the left-wing opposition, claiming they were seeking to gain "political advantage" ahead of a second-round runoff vote in the presidential election on Oct. 30.
"If my words, which were taken out of context in bad faith, were somehow misunderstood or caused discomfort to our Venezuelan sisters, I apologize, as my commitment was always for the best -- to embrace and serve everyone fleeing dictatorships anywhere in the world," said Bolsonaro.
"Brazil’s president slams opposition for criticizing remarks he made about Venezuelan girls
— Islander C̶ ? (@isllander) October 17, 2022
Jair Bolsonaro condemns ‘disrespectful’ attack that went ‘beyond all limits’"
https://t.co/XulYBS5c0i
In the roughly two-and-a-half minute video, he said his former women's minister, Damares Alves, and the first lady had visited the Venezuelan girls on Tuesday and found that they were not sex workers and were rebuilding their lives in Brazil.
Bolsonaro has faced a strong backlash online in the aftermath of his comments. But ahead of the second round of the presidential vote, he managed to stop the opposition from using any part of the interview for political ads.
In the podcast interview, which was aired Friday by local media, Bolsonaro recounted that he stopped his motorbike “on a corner, took off my helmet and looked at some pretty girls, three or four, 14-15 years old." He said he asked them if he could enter their home.
"Once inside, he said he found around 15-20 Venezuelan girls "getting ready on Saturday. What for? To make a living.”
#Brazil's opposition slammed President #JairBolsonaro as "depraved" for suggesting a group of Venezuelan girls that he visited in their home were prostitutes, as the country gears up for a presidential run-off
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) October 16, 2022
Full story - https://t.co/0GMWKfscZs pic.twitter.com/wHtiTTqAq2
He made the comments while discussing the economic situation in Venezuela, drumming up fears ahead of the second-round presidential vote that Brazil could become like Venezuela if opposition candidate and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wins.
On Sunday, following condemnation from the opposition, who labelled his remarks as "depraved," Bolsonaro took to social media to rebuff accusations of pedophilia and tolerating child prostitution, describing the accusations as "beyond all limits.”
Brazil is believed to be home to around 260,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants who have fled the socioeconomic crisis engulfing their home country.
