Brazil’s opposition slammed President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday as “depraved” for suggesting a group of Venezuelan girls he visited at his home were prostitutes, as the country prepares for a presidential runoff.
Bolsonaro will face former leftist President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the October 30 presidential election, with the expectation of a tight contest that will push both sides to step up their attacks on the previous period
Local media broadcast an interview with Bolsonaro about the situation in Venezuela in which he recalled a visit last year to a poor neighborhood in the Brazilian capital where he met a group of Venezuelan girls.
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The president said he had asked a group of “three or four very good-looking 14- or 15-year-olds” if he could “come over to your house,” where he found “15 or 20 girls” preparing “to win life”. “
The leader of Lula’s opposition party, Gleisi Hoffmann, quickly blasted Bolsonaro’s comments as “depraved” and “criminal,” while Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, Lula’s campaign coordinator, expressed “disgust.” .
Bolsonaro has repeatedly said that Brazil would suffer the same fate as Venezuela if Lula were to win the election.
According to the electoral organizations, Lula has an advantage over the president.
In the interview, Bolsonaro said: “I parked the motorbike on the corner, took off my helmet and started looking at the girls, three or four very pretty girls of 14 or 15, dressed as you might be on a Saturday. in a neighborhood community.
“There were 15 or 20 girls (in the house), all 14, 15-year-old Venezuelans, getting ready on a Saturday. Why? To make a living,” he said.
“Is that what you want for your daughter?”
Bolsonaro has responded to criticism by saying that he had entered the house with other people and in the presence of a film crew.
