Remarks on young Venezuelans Opposition slams Bolsonaro

Sao Paulo: Brazil´s opposition slammed President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday as “depraved” for suggesting a group of Venezuelan girls that he visited in their home were prostitutes, as the country gears up for a presidential run-off.

Bolsonaro will face left-wing former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in the second round of a presidential election on October 30, with the expectation of a close contest pushing both sides to intensify their attacks in the run-up. Local media aired an interview with Bolsonaro about the situation in Venezuela in which he recalled a visit last year to a poor neighborhood in Brazil´s capital where he met a group of Venezuelan girls.

The president said he had asked a group of “three or four very pretty 14 or 15-year-olds” if he could “come in your house”, where he found “15 or 20 girls” getting ready “to earn a living.” The leader of Lula´s opposition party, Gleisi Hoffmann, quickly slammed Bolsonaro´s comments as “depraved” and “criminal,” while Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, coordinator of Lula´s campaign, expressed “disgust.”

Bolsonaro has repeatedly said that Brazil would suffer the same fate as Venezuela if Lula wins the election.

According to polling organizations, Lula has a lead over the president. In the interview, Bolsonaro said: “I parked my motorcycle on a street corner, took off my helmet and started looking at the girls, three or four very pretty 14 or 15-year-olds, dressed up as you might be on a Saturday in a neighborhood community.

“There were 15 or 20 girls (in the house), all Venezuelans aged 14, 15, getting ready on a Saturday. Why? To earn a living,” he said. “That´s what you want for your daughter?” Bolsonaro has responded to the criticism, saying he had entered the house with other people and in the presence of a film crew.