Entrevista com o senador Flávio Bolsonaro, pré-candidato à Presidência da República | Em Pauta

"Hello everyone, I'm Isabela Alonso Planho, a Veja reporter, and today I have here Senator and presidential pre-candidate Flávio Bolsonaro."

"Hello, Senator, welcome and thank you for accepting our invitation."

"Hello, Isabela, hello to everyone in the studios."

"I hope we can have a good conversation here and clarify matters for the public, because we have a big and difficult job ahead."

"Senator, starting with an issue that's hot in the news, what did you think of the PL (Liberal Party) text on dosimetry that was approved in the Chamber of Deputies in the early hours of Wednesday?"

"Look, it's a horrible text, it's a text that confirms that today the Legislature continues to be under the tutelage of another power, it's a shame, a humiliation, but I want to congratulate all the deputies who approved this text."

"because that's what was possible, that's what could be done."

"There the majority has to speak, but the debate was prohibited."

"For this bill to be put on the agenda, the condition was exactly not to change the text; otherwise it wouldn't even have been scheduled."

"And I also want to make public that it was indeed another demonstration of the magnitude of Jair Messias Bolsonaro."

"Because it's a text that at this moment changes absolutely nothing for him."

"An innocent person who was 'justiçada' by his own enemies in a panel at the STF (Supreme Federal Tribunal)."

"And he said plainly that if it meant that people like Débora do Batom could return to their homes, see their children, even if not with full freedom, he was willing to pay the price of having this text approved in that way."

"And that's what we are doing, once again, so that the size of Jair Messias Bolsonaro's heart and the extent of his patriotism and humility are made public."

"I'm sure that many watching us may not grasp the magnitude of this gesture of his."

"He is there imprisoned, in a 12-square-meter room, locked up all day, with two hours of sun to go into... into a little enclosure of about 3 by 4 to take a walk, which isn't even enough to exercise, with the central air conditioning of the Federal Police building buzzing in his ear from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and even so he is thinking of others, he is thinking of those people we know are innocent, and therefore he gave this command to us; it was what the PL (Liberal Party) bench and the bench of deputies allied in opposition to the Lula government did in yesterday's plenary in the Chamber of Deputies, so congratulations to them all, they were warriors, and obviously our fight doesn't stop there, it goes to the Senate, but I think the conditions will end up being the same, so let's take this first step, put innocent people like Débora do Batom back to having social life."

"with their families, trying to seek some level of normality in their lives, and Bolsonaro asked that, at this moment, he himself take a back seat, once again leading by example."

"Senator, as I understand it, this text therefore doesn't fully encompass what you intended, what the Bolsonaro clan wanted, but it was, in a way, a session that was carried out by the former president."

"Senator, how was the coordination; what were the conversations with the Centrão like so that this vote could take place?"

"Did you or any representative of the Bolsonaro family take part in those conversations?"

"Not the latter ones, no, but the bench—our leaders—already knew what the guidance from President Bolsonaro himself was."

"And yes, they once again showed their loyalty by believing his word, his strategy."

"But, once again, it's the realization that there is no longer independence between the branches of power, because, once again, the debate was prohibited in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies."

"What did we always ask for?"

"We always asked for the bill to be scheduled, and then the wording, which would be the winning one after the entire legislative process, would be decided by the majority of deputies, as I understand it should be."

"for the majority of senators to decide next what should happen the following week, perhaps the vote on this text, unless there will be a haste for it to quickly pass through the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee and then go to the plenary."

"But look, I've never seen in 22 years as a parliamentarian."

"A parliamentarian being prohibited from making an amendment to a bill?"

"A parliamentarian being prohibited from making a 'destaque'?"

"A parliamentarian being prohibited from defending his point of view and convictions from the Chamber of Deputies' plenary podium?"

"So, this is the reality we are facing today."

"That's why my candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic is not only about that."

"Obviously it also relates to that."

"But it has to do with freedom."

"With the freedom of the parliament, with the freedom of the institutions, with the freedom... of the Brazilian population to come and go without fear of taking a blow to the forehead, a woman to walk down the street with her purse without fear of being robbed, a cyclist to ride with his cell phone or his helmet without fear of losing his life because some criminal simply didn't like his face or felt like killing him."

"These freedoms that we need to defend in this election are what I will fight for."

"But then, regarding amnesty... Since the debate was shut down, it was what could be done."

"At this moment, we fought with all our strength, but on this agenda the system won and we have to be aware that we need to look forward and count on a new parliament, with a new president of the republic, so that this agenda of justice is reestablished in our country."

"Do you think that the movement made to approve this PL (Liberal Party) on dosimetry in the Chamber of Deputies, with the endorsement of the Centrão, is related to any maneuver to make you give up your pre-candidacy?"

"No, not at all."