Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro apologized Tuesday for insinuating that some Venezuelan refugee girls in Brasilia engaged in prostitution, but said his words were misrepresented by the opposition.
“If those words that, in bad faith, were taken out of context, were somehow misunderstood and caused some embarrassment to our Venezuelan sisters, I apologize,” Bolsonaro said in a video released as part of his campaign for the second round of elections. the elections. . .
On the 2nd, Jair Bolsonaro, who aspires to re-election, obtained 43.2% of the votes in the first round, compared to 48.4% achieved by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the progressive front candidate who will return to face on October 30. .
Last weekend, the president caused a stir when he declared in an interview that, during a motorcycle ride through Brasilia, he had seen some very “pretty” Venezuelan women on a corner.
Bolsonaro narrated that “he painted a climate”, an expression that in Brazil defines a possible sexual interest, that he approached and asked to enter the house of the young women, who he said were between 14 and 15 years old.
“I wonder. Some pretty girls, 14 or 15 years old, dressed for Saturdays. For what? To make a living,” said Bolsonaro, who for these statements was even accused of “pedophilia” by Lula da Silva’s campaign. for his supposed interest. in girls.
The Institute of Migration and Human Rights (IMDH), one of the entities that helps Venezuelans who arrive in Brazil, repudiated these statements in a note and guaranteed that in the community cited by Bolsonaro “there are no signs of child prostitution.”
“This type of statement stigmatizes the Venezuelan population in Brazil and contributes to the construction of false stereotypes about migrants,” the statement said.
He added that the young women, precisely, that day participated in the hairdressing and makeup courses offered to Venezuelans to help them find employment.
In the video in which he apologized, the President appeared with his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, and the Venezuelan María Teresa Belandría, ambassador appointed to Brazil by Juan Guaidó, recognized by the Brazilian government as the “legitimate president” of Venezuela.
According to Bolsonaro, the statement that caused the controversy was only intended to underline his “concern” in “avoiding any type of exploitation of vulnerable women” and was “taken out of context” by “leftist militants” who seek to take advantage. at this election time.
Source: TSF
