Elon Musk-Twitter Deal Is a ‘Breath of Hope’, Says Brazil’s President

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro referred to as Elon Musk’s proposed takeover of Twitter a “breath of hope” as the 2 met in Brazil on Friday, including he hoped the US billionaire would assist finish the “lies” about his extensively criticised stewardship of the Amazon rainforest.

Bolsonaro and Musk, the CEO of electrical carmaker Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX, met to debate rural Web connectivity and monitoring of the Amazon. The assembly comes at a delicate time for each males.

Bolsonaro faces an uphill battle to get re-elected within the October, and has grow to be more and more remoted on the worldwide stage, whereas Musk was on Thursday accused of sexual harassment in a information report – an allegation he denies.

Bolsonaro, a far-right nationalist, has blasted main social media platforms for his or her efforts to fight disinformation, together with taking down his baseless feedback linking COVID-19 vaccines to growing AIDS. Musk, who Bolsonaro referred to as a “legend of liberty,” has vowed to defend free speech on Twitter.

Bolsonaro has been globally condemned for advocating extra mining and farming within the Amazon and for Brazil’s environmental backsliding. Latest satellite tv for pc knowledge present deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has surged to a 15-year excessive underneath Bolsonaro.

Talking alongside Musk at an upscale resort within the countryside close to Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro hailed the billionaire’s bid for Twitter, saying “it was like a breath of hope.”

“We want, and are relying on Elon Musk for the Amazon to be recognized by all in Brazil and the world, to point out … how we now have protected it, and the way a lot hurt is attributable to those that unfold lies about that area,” he informed a information convention.

Later, in a press convention with out Musk, Bolsonaro gushed about assembly the US billionaire. “It is the beginning of a relationship which I am certain will quickly finish in marriage,” he mentioned.

Bolsonaro added that Musk’s Twitter buy would symbolize “the liberty of press that we at all times need and want, complete freedom, with out restrict,” he mentioned.

Bolsonaro additionally mentioned that he was making Brazil’s Alcântara area base close to the equator obtainable to Musk’s rockets.

Musk tweeted on Friday afternoon that he aimed to debate additional monitoring of the rainforest and an effort to deliver broadband web to rural areas – a scheme that he had beforehand mentioned with members of Bolsonaro’s authorities.

Musk was not requested about harassment allegations when he took questions after arriving in Sao Paulo, the place he was additionally greeted by enterprise leaders akin to Telecom Italia Chief Government Pietro Labriola and Banco BTG Pactual Chairman Andre Esteves.

Musk’s assembly with Bolsonaro, a longtime conservative firebrand who defends Brazil’s 1964-1985 army dictatorship, is indicative of the right-ward drift of his private politics. On Wednesday, he mentioned he beforehand voted for Democrats, however will now vote for Republicans.

For Bolsonaro, who has frightened worldwide observers as many concern that he could refuse at hand over energy if he loses the October election, Musk’s go to was a public relations coup.

Bolsonaro misplaced an ally when former US President Donald Trump misplaced his 2020 re-election bid, and has not spoken with US President Joe Biden because the Democrat took workplace.

© Thomson Reuters 2022