Far-right conspiracy theories are being used as a political strategy by allies who support the re-election of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in the second round of the presidential election, according to experts heard by Lusa.
“We don’t have QAnon militancy in Brazil as we do in the United States, where groups more vocally represent this big conspiracy theory represented by QAnon, but we see elements brought into the public debate by ‘bolsonarista’ political actors,” the statement said. political analyst Guilherme Casarões, member of the far-right Observatory.
Marajo Island, PA. Former Minister Damares Alves. BOMB pic.twitter.com/JGGrXuE1li
— Pedro Mallmann Filho (@JESUS_SELECTOS) October 9, 2022
Last week, Brazil was surprised by a video recorded at the Assembly of God Ministério Fama, in Goiânia, in which the evangelical pastor, former Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights and elected senator, Damares Alves, declared that all hell rose against Bolsonaro because he human trafficking and child abuse regime on the island of Marajó, in the north of the country.
“Bolsonaro has a spiritual understanding that you have no idea. We went to Ilha do Marajó and found that our children were trafficked there, and these children eat soft foods so that the bowels are free during anal sex,” he said.
“Images of our children, Brazilians, four years old, three years old, who when they cross the border are kidnapped, their teeth pulled out so they don’t bite during oral sex,” he added to the Goiânia cult that performed in a campaign in favor of Bolsonaro, which also included the first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro.
The statements shocked the country and mobilized the judicial authorities, who issued a statement saying they were unaware of the existence of these crimes and asked for clarification.
“From 2006 to 2015, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) intervened in three civil investigations and one police investigation launched following complaints of alleged cases of international child trafficking that had occurred in the Marajó Archipelago, in Pará since 1992. None of the charges mentioned nothing comparable to the torture cited by former minister Damares Alves on September 8,” the Brazilian government body said.
The MPF has asked Damares Alves and the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights to provide evidence of the existence of these abuses and the measures taken to prevent them and is still awaiting a response.
Damares’ story is very similar to a fictionalized conspiracy theory tale known as “Toy Slave Lolitas” about child abuse allegedly committed in an Eastern European country since 2010, published on 4chan.
4chan is a discussion forum based on the publication of images and text, mostly anonymous, that gained prominence after an anonymous user (QAnon) started posting false information claiming to have access to data held by United States security authorities about a group led by a corrupt elite made up of Satanist pedophiles who have kidnapped and sacrificed children, creating a movement that has many supporters in the Republican Party.
In Brazil, QAnon edited the local conspiracy narrative and its propagators, who say they defend Christian and conservative values, are using social media to spread lies against people criticizing the government led by Bolsonaro.
“Is it there? [Damares Alves] to create panic, it must create a state of panic (…) I would say that it is the great leader of conspiracy theories in Brazil, not just QAnon,” emphasized Adriana Dias, PhD from the State University of Campinas ( Unicamp) , which studies neo-Nazis and groups that propagate far-right conspiracy theories.
“The story Damares tells about Marajó is on a neo-Nazi website called 4chan. It’s a story that’s on 4chan. Why? [a senadora citou este conteúdo]? Because there is a lot of encouragement for pedophilia on neo-Nazi forums. (…) It is not strange that the minister responsible for protecting children uses a website that teaches pedophiles to rape them,” Adriana Dias said.
Casarões, on the other hand, stressed that Brazil is not yet a QAnon stronghold, but political agents such as Damares Alves, deputies Carla Zambelli, Bia Kisses and Eduardo Bolsonaro, deputy and son of the Brazilian head of state, have specific points of these stories.
“Allowing the use of elective functions for the dissemination of conspiracy theories in general, defamatory and that have a very specific target or set of targets has very important implications for the political game. spreading it in the political world will have an impact election campaign”, thought Casarões.
“Especially in the case of Damares Alves, who is an evangelical leader associated with organized evangelical groups such as the Lagoinha Baptist Church, this also creates another problem, which is the spread of conspiracy theories that will fatally affect the growing evangelical population,” he added. up.
Casarões believed that the impact of QAnon theories in the presidential election could be more serious, as conspiratorial concepts shape the way many voters see the world.
“In this case of the 2022 election, it is clear that many of these conspiracy theories have a clear target, which is the PT. [Partido dos Trabalhadores] and former President Lula da Silva,” he concluded, referring to Bolsonaro’s opponent in the second round of the presidential election set to take place on October 30.
Source: DN
