Bolsonaro on Orlando Silva: ‘a caboclo from PC do B’ – 02/05/2023 – Politics

Back in Brazil for about a month, Jair Messias Bolsonaro has resumed his schedule and participated in events of interest to him. In an interview this Monday (1st) with the Oeste Sem Filter program, on YouTube, the former president again acted offensively, this time against deputy Orlando Silva (PC do B), rapporteur for the Fake News PL.

Asked by reporter Ana Paula Henkel about what he thought and expected from the vote on bill 2630/2020, which deals, among other matters, with the regulation of social networks, Bolsonaro said that the rapporteur of the text “is a caboclo of the Communist Party of Brazil”.

“I was a federal deputy for 28 years. When I had doubts about a matter, I looked at the panel of nominations. If there was PT, PC do B and PSOL indicating yes, I voted no. And I didn’t make any mistakes. Here it’s the same thing : who is the rapporteur? He is a caboclo of the Communist Party of Brazil. Is this guy worried about freedom? He is not worried, “he said.

According to the Michaelis dictionary, the term “caboclo” refers to mestizo individuals, children of whites or blacks with indigenous people. Pejoratively, the denomination is associated with people with little education, formerly considered “rednecks” and “savages”.

For Lucineia Rosa Dos Santos, a lawyer and professor of human rights at PUC-SP, the statement can be classified as a crime of racial injury due to the historical meaning attributed to this term, in addition to how it was used.

“The expression ‘caboclo’ would not be considered specifically racist. It would be a designation attributed to a person. But, when it comes from the figure of a former president reporting to a deputy without using his name, we can speak of an action discriminatory,” he says.

According to the expert, Bolsonaro’s speech — self-declared white and former occupant of the highest office in the Executive Branch — shows the air of superiority with which he places himself in relation to the deputy, who declares himself black. This reinforces negative values ​​attributed to individuals designated with that word in the colonial period.

“It makes no sense today for you to use that expression. It would be like using the term ‘creole’, another expression that has a racist connotation. Even knowing Orlando Silva’s name, he chose to refer to the deputy by a term that designated ethnicity or race of the person he is talking about. In this context, the term is, in my eyes, discriminatory”, he explains.

Bolsonaro accumulates prejudiced phrases against different targets over the last few years. Phrases with racist terms are common in his statements.

Bolsonaro has already said that blacks are heavy in arrobas. In a conversation published on social networks, he recalled that “he has already been prosecuted for this” and returned to using the expression that led him to be denounced by the PGR (Attorney General of the Republic) for the crime of racism.

“They managed to get you up, man? What do you weigh, more than 7 arrobas, right?”, he said to a supporter who appears briefly in a recording at the Alvorada Palace, but is not identified.

In January 2020, during broadcast on his social media, he targeted indigenous people. “Without a doubt, the Indian has changed. He is evolving. More and more the Indian is a human being just like us”, he stated.

He even said, during a live after the first round of the past elections, that his defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the Northeast would be related to illiteracy.

“Lula won in nine of the 10 states with the highest illiteracy rate. Do you know which states these are? In our Northeast. It’s not just a high or more serious illiteracy rate in these states. Other economic data are now also lower in the region,” he said. .

During the presidential debate on August 28, he attacked journalist Vera Magalhães, who questioned him about vaccination. “I think you sleep thinking about me, you can’t take sides in a debate like this. You are a disgrace to journalism”, said Bolsonaro excitedly.

In July 2022, he made a speech with homophobic and transphobic expressions, in Imperatriz (MA), when receiving a commendation at an evangelical event. He defended that “Joãozinho should be Joãozinho all his life”, that “Mariazinha would be Maria all his life” and repeated that his model of family is composed of “man, woman and offspring”.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

racial slurs
Provided for in the Penal Code, the crime consists of “injuring someone, offending their dignity or decorum” (penalty of a fine and imprisonment from one to six months). When the offense makes reference to race, color, ethnicity, religion, origin or condition of an elderly person, or a person with a disability, the penalty is increased (the maximum prison time is increased to three years)

Racism
Law No. 7,716 of 1989, which deals with crimes of discrimination, considers racism to be a broad act of prejudice, which affects an indeterminate group of individuals. Most of the situations described in the law involve conduct such as preventing someone from attending an establishment or denying employment due to skin color. Punishments vary according to the act, but range from one to five years in prison.

Xenophobia
Speeches and gestures that denote aversion to foreigners are included in the prediction of injury. The paragraph of the Penal Code that specifies the aggravating factors cites the origin of the offended person as one of the factors that may increase the penalty, in case of conviction of the aggressor (the maximum period of imprisonment is three years). Law 7716 also ensures punishment for crimes of discrimination based on national origin.

Homophobia
Although there is no criminalization of homophobia and transphobia in Brazilian legislation, it is possible due to a decision by the STF (Federal Supreme Court), which equated both conducts with the crime of racism until the National Congress approves legislation on the subject.

Decorum
Law No. 1079 of 1950, which typifies impeachment, defines as a crime of responsibility all “acts by the President of the Republic that violate the Federal Constitution”, especially against probity in administration and other points. And, among the crimes against probity in the administration, is “acting in a way incompatible with the dignity, honor and decorum of the office”