Religion has a crisis after masters demand support for Bolsonaro – 02/11/2023 – Politics

The União do Vegetal entered into an internal crisis after religious masters were accused of supporting members of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and even for participating in coup acts against the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The religion is known for the ayahuasca tea ritual and for the defense of principles such as peace and preservation of forests.

Discomfort with the political discourse of these leaders made the case even reach the courts. Union members asked for a temporary ban on the use of tea, a drink with psychedelic effects, to investigate its use in a decontextualized way, with ideological indoctrination in favor of anti-democratic acts by the group’s leadership.

In Brazil, the use of ayahuasca is only allowed in religious rituals. The report of Sheet spoke with members and former members of the União do Vegetal, subject to reservation, who point out that the institution has been becoming Bolsonarized since 2018, but that it reached its peak during and shortly after last year’s elections.

Sought after, the UDV stated that it is non-partisan, does not profess political ideologies and had no preferences for candidates for President of the Republic. He also says that he removed leaders who committed excesses.

There was a withdrawal of people who defended coup acts, but also of those who publicly criticized the entity for proselytizing teachers in favor of Bolsonaro.

One of the exponents of religion is businessman Luís Felipe Belmonte, one of the organizers of the frustrated attempt to create the Alliance for Brazil, a party that intended to shelter Bolsonaro supporters.

Before the second round of elections, one of the main leaders of the União do Vegetal, Raimundo Monteiro, 88, Mestre Monteiro, sent a message to members of the religion stating that there were two antagonistic political agendas in Brazil.

In an indirect mention of the two presidential candidates, Bolsonaro and Lula respectively, he said that one of the agendas defended “Christian values, supported by the União do Vegetal”, such as “the traditional family – man, woman and children”, while the other proposed “allegations incompatible with the most elementary moral and spiritual foundations of our doctrine”.

“This is not about restricting the citizenship rights of our affiliates, but reminding them that, above ideologies (whatever they may be) and political interests, are the moral and spiritual principles of the doctrine of the União do Vegetal”, guided Monteiro.

He concluded the statement by saying that to stay on the “right path” it is necessary to follow the master’s “right indoctrination”, “without deviating from it under any circumstances and under any pretext, whether in private or public life”.

After the elections, Monteiro appeared in photos in the midst of acts in front of the Army headquarters in Campo Grande (MS), in coup demonstrations.

Known for having a close relationship with José Gabriel da Costa, Mestre Gabriel (1922-1971), founder of the União do Vegetal, Monteiro is regarded as one of the most respected masters of the religion and treated on the entity’s website as “a zealous guardian of treasures of the UDV”.

The message was not officially passed on by the UDV, and Mestre Monteiro announced that he would stop participating in the council meetings of the religious summit.

He was not the only one to speak out in favor of the coup acts. Other masters and members also expressed themselves in this regard in UDV groups.

A member of the religious summit in Bahia recorded videos in coup acts stating that Bolsonaro had been sending encrypted messages to his followers in the sense that he would not leave the Presidency —according to the Sheet found out, he was removed by the UDV.

The escalation of support for Bolsonaro and the coup leaders caused reactions from supporters of religion. In an open letter, members criticized the “manifestation of support, on the part of people from the Union’s high hierarchy, for political positions” that they consider contrary to Mestre Gabriel’s.

They stated that “far from the superficial speeches of the right and left”, they did not align with hate speeches or prejudices against minorities, the defense of the military dictatorship and the release of firearms – flags of the Bolsonaro administration.

“Like hoasqueiros [consumidores de ayahuasca], who drink Vegetal, made up of two plants native to the Amazon rainforest and who understand nature as sacred, we have become very sensitive to the environmental issue. The deregulation of environmental policies, announced since the campaign period, is being put into practice”, they said.

In videos, other members of the União do Vegetal also reacted to the defense of politicians. “I had never seen politics enter our religion,” said one of them, Agamenon Honório, in a video, citing elections since Fernando Collor’s, in 1989.

“After Bolsonaro’s election, party ideologies began to enter the UDV,” he said. “Leaders of the União do Vegetal try to impose their opinion on the members, including in sessions.”

Agamenon, who claims to have been a member of the União do Vegetal for 34 years, was removed after publishing the video.

In an interview with the YouTube channel Daniel Gontijo, a former member of the União do Vegetal, Armando Grisi, also made a series of criticisms of people at the top of the religion, who would be “fostering disorder” by defending the gathering of people in in front of barracks.

In a popular action presented to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) on January 10, a former member of the UDV, Alexandre de Oliveira Rodrigues, asked for a “temporary ban on the use of tea to investigate the possible decontextualized use of ayahuasca tea”. .

The rapporteur of the case, Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, stated that the case should be decided by the TJ-DFT (Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories) and sent the records to the court. There is still no decision from the court.

União do Vegetal says it removed leaders and is non-partisan

Sought after by the report, the União do Vegetal said in a note that it is a non-partisan religious institution, that it does not “profess political ideologies and had no preference or nomination for any candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic in past elections”.

“The expressions of political preferences of some of its associates do not represent the UDV, being only manifestations of a strictly personal nature”, says a note from the institution, signed by its president, Tadeo Feijão.

The UDV presented a circular letter from December of last year emphasizing that the religion is non-partisan.

The note says that the religion “does not allow political demonstrations within its scope, having taken measures in cases where excesses were verified, including the removal of members of the board”.

He further states that the popular action is “an initiative without foundation and without any evidential basis”.

“The UDV has, among its more than 22,000 members, people with affiliations to various political parties. Since the institution’s origin, militants and parliamentarians identified as left, right and center coexist fraternally in its religious bosom.”