Jewelry case bothers Bolsonaro’s evangelical allies – 03/09/2023 – Politics

Evangelical allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), so far, have preferred to remain silent on the case of jewelry allegedly presented by Saudi Arabia to Baptist Michelle Bolsonaro in 2021, when she was first lady of Brazil.

It fell to the always vocal Silas Malafaia, one of the closest pastors in the 2022 election campaign, to come out in defense of Bolsonaro. He recorded a video this Thursday (9) in which he attacks the press, called mediocre, biased and unscrupulous, “for their fierce attack on the figure of the former president.”

Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since the end of his term, has been trying to disassociate himself from the episode. He said he was unaware of attempts by former supporters to rescue a pair of earrings, a ring, a necklace and a watch made from precious stones at customs at Guarulhos airport, as well as a horse-shaped ornament with golden ornaments. The set was valued at R$ 16.5 million.

Report by Sheet showed, however, that the former representative talked about releasing the jewels in December, his last month as president, with the then head of the Federal Revenue Service.

For Malafaia, if the couple Jair and Michelle had any bad intentions about the millionaire gift, they would not have talked about placing it in the official collection. “There was no question, excuse me, of the president or Michelle hiding jewelry or anything and not putting it in the collection.”

The leader of the Vitória em Cristo Assembly of God says that “no one is asking the president for anything in particular”, since the idea would be to keep the jewels in a collection, and that, therefore, there would be no deceit in the actions to recover the gift. Proof of this would be a letter from Bento Albuquerque, Minister of Mines and Energy at the time and head of the entourage that took part in the official trip to Saudi Arabia.

In the document, he mentions “the impossibility of refusing or immediately returning gifts due to current circumstances; and the historical, cultural and artistic values ​​of the goods offered; it is necessary and essential that the collection be given the appropriate legal destination”.

Albuquerque sent the letter in 2021 to the Chief of Staff of the Revenue Secretary. The text dealt with the “release and proper disposal” of the jewels retained by the agency.

While Malafaia speaks, most of the evangelical leaders who climbed on platforms and pulpits with Bolsonaro in the 2022 election are silent.

The apostle César Augusto, who in 2021 summoned the faithful to the Bolsonarist event on September 7, says he is following the case, “but not with much interest”. Prompted to discuss more on the subject, he claims that the Bolsonaro couple “have a history of honesty and integrity” and should not leave with a tarnished reputation. He adds that the news “loses credibility” because it is surrounded by “politicization”.

Behind the scenes, however, some pastors were bothered by the development of the case. At first, they even believed that Bolsonaro, personally, was not to blame for anything. They are not so safe anymore. But they see Michelle as innocent in the story.

These leaders, however, prefer not to identify themselves, for fear that a more forceful position will be used to benefit the left.

The main evangelical portals in the country always insert snippets about political news, generally to support conservative positions. But they chose not to highlight the accusation about the jewels. Discreetly, in a lower corner of its page, Pleno News reported that PSOL had asked the Federal Court of Auditors to confiscate gifts that are with Bolsonaro.

A nobler space gained news such as “Women from the MST vandalize a Salton wine store in SP” and the exclusion of evangelical deputy Silvia Waiãpi (PL-AP) from the indigenous parliamentary front.