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 broadly 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 develop into 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. Current satellite tv for pc information present deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has surged to a 15-year excessive below Bolsonaro.

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

“We’d like, and are relying on Elon Musk for the Amazon to be recognized by all in Brazil and the world, to indicate … how we now have protected it, and the way a lot hurt is attributable to those that unfold lies about that area,” he advised 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 positive will quickly finish in marriage,” he stated.

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

Bolsonaro additionally stated that he was making Brazil’s Alcântara area base close to the equator out there 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 similar to Telecom Italia Chief Govt Pietro Labriola and Banco BTG Pactual Chairman Andre Esteves.

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

For Bolsonaro, who has fearful worldwide observers as many concern that he might 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 for the reason that Democrat took workplace.

© Thomson Reuters 2022