Arms, physical violence, death penalty and torture In 1999, Bolsonaro told the program Câmera Aberta that he was "favorable to torture" and called democracy "crap". In his defense, Bolsonaro claimed that his statements during the impeachment vote were protected by
parliamentary immunity. In a 2018 interview, he defended Ustra again and called him a "national hero". In 1999, while explaining to presenter
Jô Soares why he defended the firing squad of former president
Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB), he said that "barbarity is privatizing
Vale and telecommunications, handing over our oil reserves to foreign capital". posing for a photo displaying a "
CPF canceled" sign, an expression used to refer to those killed in confrontations with police in Brazil.|left In 2015, in a video posted by
Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSC-SP), Jair Bolsonaro said that "violence is fought with violence and not with human rights banners", such as those defended by
Amnesty International, which he claimed was formed by "scoundrels" and "idiots". When asked about a survey by the organization that showed that the
Brazilian police are the world's leading killers, Bolsonaro replied that he thought the "Military Police of Brazil should kill more." Data from the 9th edition of the Public Security Yearbook, published by the
Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, shows that an average of eight people are killed every day by Brazilian police officers. When asked during his presidential campaign in 2018 whether combating prejudice could be a government policy, Bolsonaro declared that he would put an end to what he called "
coitadismo" ("underdog syndrome") in Brazil. He advocates repealing the
Disarmament Statute and giving rural landowners the right to buy rifles to prevent invasions by the
Landless Workers' Movement (MST). He also presented a bill that establishes voluntary
chemical castration as a condition for a person convicted of rape to be able to advance their sentence. He is against the legalization of drugs. In the book
A República das Milícias: Dos Esquadrões da Morte à Era Bolsonaro, Bruno Paes Manso argued for the existence of a "Militia Republic" in Brazil and classified Jair Bolsonaro as its captain.
Brazilian military dictatorship Bolsonaro is known for claiming that the Brazilian military dictatorship was a glorious period in Brazilian history. According to a letter published in the
Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, it was "20 years of order and progress". In an interview with
Época magazine in July 2011, he said that the military regime was not a dictatorship. Bolsonaro has been criticized by the media, politicians and the
Torture Never Again group. In 1993, eight years after the return of democracy in Brazil, he said that only a military regime would lead to a more "prosperous and sustainable country". In an interview he gave to the TV show Custe o Que Custar (CQC) on March 28, 2011, he said that he was inspired by the military dictatorship and that he missed the government of presidents
Médici,
Geisel and Figueiredo. He also expressed his support for the possible development of an atomic bomb in Brazil. During the
National Truth Commission's visit on September 21, 2013, to the 1st Army Police Battalion in
Rio de Janeiro, where the
DOI-CODI operated during the dictatorship, Bolsonaro pushed Senator
Randolfe Rodrigues, who was trying to prevent him from entering the barracks. Rodrigues claimed that Bolsonaro punched him in the stomach, which he denied. At the scene, representatives of social movements such as Torture Never Again demanded that Bolsonaro leave, but he managed to enter the building. The delegation refused to conduct the visit in Bolsonaro's presence. In addition to Randolfe Rodrigues, Senator
João Capiberibe (PSB-AP), who was tortured in the battalion during the dictatorship, and federal deputies
Jandira Feghali (PCdoB-RJ) and
Luiza Erundina (PSB-SP) were also present. Jair Bolsonaro supported the call for demonstrations on March 15, 2020, to close the
National Congress and the Supreme Court. Several politicians and a Supreme Court justice claim that he has committed a crime of responsibility and misconduct.
Miriam Leitão On July 19, 2019, Bolsonaro claimed that journalist and writer
Miriam Leitão "was arrested when she was going to the
Araguaia Guerrilla War to try to impose a dictatorship in Brazil" and stated twice that Miriam "lied about having been tortured" and abused in military facilities during the military dictatorship. In a statement read out on
Jornal Nacional,
Rede Globo repudiated Bolsonaro's claims about her.
Fernando Santa Cruz During a statement made a few days after his comment about Miriam Leitão, in which he criticized the role of the
Order of Attorneys of Brazil (OAB) in the investigation into the
knife attack he suffered during the 2018 election campaign, Bolsonaro announced that he would tell
Felipe Santa Cruz, former president of the OAB, how his father
Fernando Santa Cruz, rebel against the military regime, had died. The statement caused a lot of negative repercussions. Bolsonaro said that Fernando was killed by a left-wing group during the military dictatorship, which is contested by official documents that point out that he was a victim of the Brazilian state. On August 1, STF Minister
Luís Roberto Barroso gave Bolsonaro 15 days to clarify the statement if he wanted to.
Dilma Rousseff On August 5, 2019, Justice
Rosa Weber also gave Bolsonaro a 15-day deadline to clarify a statement in which he suggested that former president
Dilma Rousseff had participated in armed actions during the military dictatorship that resulted in the death of US Army Captain
Charles Chandler. On receiving the "Personality of the Year" award from the Brazil-United States Chamber of Commerce in
Texas, Bolsonaro said that "those who until recently occupied the government had their hands stained with blood in the armed struggle, even killing a captain, as I am a captain, in those sad years we had in the past". American Captain Chandler was killed on October 12, 1968, in the Sumaré neighborhood, on the west side of the
city of São Paulo, in an attack carried out by three militants from the
Popular Revolutionary Vanguard (VPR) and the
National Liberation Action (ALN). Dilma never belonged to any of these groups.
Chilean dictatorship In an interview with
Veja magazine on December 2, 1998, Bolsonaro declared that the
Chilean dictatorship of
Augusto Pinochet, which killed more than 3,000 people and exiled another 200,000, "should have killed more people". He also praised Peruvian President
Alberto Fujimori as a "model" for his use of military intervention against the judiciary and the legislature.
Religion In a speech in Campina Grande in February 2017, Bolsonaro criticized the
secular state. In October 2018, he eased the statement by saying: "We're going to run a government for everyone, regardless of religion. Even those who are atheists. We have almost 5% of atheists in Brazil, and you have the same needs as the rest of us".
Women, gender equality and abortion During an interview with
IstoÉ magazine, Bolsonaro claimed to control the woman's topless habits. Regarding his first marriage, Bolsonaro said that his ex-wife was forced to "follow his ideas" in politics. In an interview with the newspaper
Zero Hora in February 2015, he declared that it was unfair for women and men to receive the same salary because women get pregnant. In April 2017, in a speech at the Hebraica Club in Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro mentioned his 6-year-old daughter Laura, saying: "I have five children. There were four men, then on the fifth I weakened and a woman came". On March 8, 2018, on
International Women's Day, when questioned about whether he would increase female participation in a possible government, Bolsonaro replied: "I respect women, but does anyone here want Dilma (Rousseff) back by any chance? [...] It's not a question of gender. You have to put in people who can do the job. If I appoint women, how many people of African descent will I have to appoint?" In an interview for
Época magazine in 2000, he said that he considered aborting his son Jair Renan and passed the decision on to his wife. According to Gilson Cardoso, national coordinator of the National Human Rights Movement (MNDH), Bolsonaro opposes the
Maria da Penha Law, which seeks to curb domestic violence against women.
Maria do Rosário Bolsonaro is perceived as sexist and misogynist by different sectors of society. On November 11, 2003, Bolsonaro and Federal Deputy
Maria do Rosário were interviewed in the Green Room of Congress about the
murders of Liana Friedenbach and Felipe Caffé. While Bolsonaro criticized the law on the age of criminal responsibility in Brazil, Rosário declared her position on the case according to the legislation. At one point, they got into an argument and Bolsonaro told Maria do Rosário: "I would never rape you because you don't deserve it". On December 9, 2014, during a speech by Maria do Rosário in the Chamber of Deputies in which she defended the members of the Truth Commission, Bolsonaro verbally attacked her again. The fight occurred after she said that the military dictatorship was "an absolute disgrace" for Brazil. When questioned about his statements in a February 2015 interview, Bolsonaro told the newspaper
Zero Hora: "She doesn't deserve [to be raped] because she's very bad, because she's very ugly. She's not my type. I would never rape her." As a result of statements made during discussions with Maria do Rosário, Bolsonaro was convicted in the first instance of moral damages in September 2015. In June 2016, the Supreme Federal Court (STF), examining a complaint from the Public Prosecutor's Office and Maria do Rosário, decided to open two criminal proceedings against him. In a decision of four votes to one, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled that, besides inciting rape, Bolsonaro had offended her reputation. He became a defendant for allegedly condoning crime and for libel. The complaint against Bolsonaro for condoning crime was filed in December 2014 by
Ela Wiecko. On August 15, 2017, the
Superior Court of Justice (STJ) maintained the decision and ordered the payment of compensation of R$10,000 to Maria do Rosário. On February 19, 2019, the STF denied an appeal by Bolsonaro's defense and upheld the decision. In May, the Court ordered that the amount be paid within 15 working days and that Bolsonaro publish a retraction note. On June 13, 2019, Bolsonaro apologized to Maria do Rosário in a message published on social media. In apologizing for his statements, Bolsonaro said he wanted to take advantage of the case to express his "full and unrestricted respect for women" and stressed that he had defended harsher sentences for those convicted of rape, such as chemical castration, and classifying crimes of passion as heinous.
Brigitte Macron At the end of August 2019, a follower of Bolsonaro's Facebook page posted a montage of two photos, one of
Emmanuel Macron and his wife,
Brigitte, and the other of Bolsonaro and Michelle, to mock Brigitte's appearance. Bolsonaro's official page replied by laughing at the post. Members of the Bolsonaro government, such as
Renzo Gracie and
Paulo Guedes, also criticized Brigitte's appearance. The statements caused negative repercussions and spurred the #
DesculpaBrigitte (#SorryBrigitte) online campaign, for which she publicly paid gratitude. The incident was the biggest diplomatic crisis between the two countries since the
Lobster War in the 1960s. In an interview during the
G7 meeting, Macron said that Bolsonaro's comment about his wife was "extremely disrespectful", as well as "sad" and a "shame" for Brazilian women. He said that he "respects" Brazilians, but that he hopes that "they will very quickly have a president who behaves up to the job".
Patrícia Campos Mello in March 2019. On February 18, 2020, during an interview with a group of supporters in front of the
Alvorada Palace, Bolsonaro insulted journalist
Patrícia Campos Mello with a sexual slur. Several parties, politicians, celebrities and journalistic organizations considered the speech an attack on democracy and repudiated his attitude. For the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) and the Observatory of Press Freedom of the Order of Attorneys of Brazil (OAB), Bolsonaro's speech disrespects the press and its essential work in democracy. The
Brazilian Press Association (ABI) called the aggression "cowardly" and asked the Public Prosecutor's Office to denounce Bolsonaro's violation of conduct. The Union of Professional Journalists of São Paulo says that his speech can be classified as insulting and is subject to criminal liability. The
National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj), in a note signed by the National Women's Commission, says that the episode involved sexism and misogyny. In a statement,
Folha de S. Paulo said: "Bolsonaro has assaulted reporter Patrícia Campos Mello and all professional journalism with his attitude. He also violates the dignity, honor and decorum that the law demands of the exercise of the Presidency."
Homophobia in 2011. Bolsonaro has publicly condemned homosexuality and opposed the implementation of laws that guarantee LGBT rights, such as same-sex marriage, the adoption of children by homosexual couples and changes to civil registration for transsexuals. He said in an interview with
Jornal de Notícias that "many of the children who will be adopted by gay couples will be abused by these homosexual couples." In May 2002, he said to
Folha de S. Paulo that he could beat up homosexuals: "I'm not going to fight or discriminate, but if I see two men kissing in the street, I'm going to hit them." In 2002, a human rights bill was sent to Congress that sought to amend the
Military Penal Code to abolish the differentiation in punishment between homosexual and heterosexual libidinous practices. Bolsonaro opposed it, claiming that it would reduce the security of the military and force them to become homosexuals. In 2010, he threatened to be expelled from the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies for defending, first in a debate on TV Câmara and later on other programs, that beating a child is the best way to prevent them from becoming gay. According to Federal Deputy Iriny Lopes, president of the commission, measures would be implemented before the end of the legislative year, since Bolsonaro's remarks were a direct attack on human rights.
Pedro Wilson, a member of the commission, supported Lopes' decision and added that it was not the first time he had acted in such a way. In response to the decision, Bolsonaro said he didn't care about them and asked for respect for the, according to him, heterosexual minority that he represents on the commission. A petition proposing to punish Bolsonaro and signed by Pedro Wilson, Iriny Lopes and
Chico Alencar was approved on December 1, 2010. He was defended by Federal Deputy
Fernando Chiarelli, who also criticized the booklet drawn up by the
Ministry of Education to teach children to socialize with homosexual classmates. Although Bolsonaro's stance was disapproved of by the majority of the commission's members, the parliamentarians opposed the application of punishment.In March 2011, in an interview he gave to Rede Bandeirantes' CQC program, Bolsonaro took a stand against movements that "advocate" homosexuality and bisexuality. He said that his son, with a "good education and a present father", "doesn't run the risk" of becoming homosexual, and that gay parades are "promoting bad habits". On April 3, a demonstration was held against his statements. On November 9, 2017, the
Rio de Janeiro State Court of Justice ordered Bolsonaro to pay a fine of R$150,000 for collective moral damage due to statements given on the show. Judge Luciana Teixeira said that he had abused his right to free expression to commit an illegal act. His remarks were mocked on social media after the Supreme Court's decision. Pamphlets attacking homosexual advocates were also scattered around the city of Resende, in Rio de Janeiro, signed by him; the material was available on his website. In October 2011, a lawsuit against Bolsonaro was filed with the Council of Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum by
Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), which accused him of spreading prejudice and encouraging violence and quoted a discussion he had with a female senator about the bill criminalizing
homophobia on May 12 in the Senate. It also cites Bolsonaro's participation in the CQC program. In an interview for the documentary Out There, made by British actor and comedian
Stephen Fry and shown on the
BBC in 2013, Bolsonaro said: "No father is proud to have a gay son ... We Brazilians don't like homosexuals". In another interview with
El País in February 2014, Bolsonaro said that the "majority" of homosexuals are "the result of drug use". In March 2016, American actor
Elliot Page published an interview given by Bolsonaro in 2015 for the documentary series
Gaycation. In the article, Page, openly LGBT, claimed to have read an article in which he said that homosexual children should be beaten and asked if Bolsonaro thought he should have been beaten as a child. Bolsonaro replied by saying that the "growing" number of openly gay people is due to "liberalism, drugs and women also working". On October 6, 2018, Bolsonaro said: "We're going to make a government for everyone. For gays, and there are even gays who are fathers, gays who are mothers. It's a project for all of you." When asked by
William Bonner on
Jornal Nacional what he would advise those who are prejudiced and aggressive against gays, Bolsonaro replied: "Aggression against a fellow human being has to be punished according to the law. If the reason is similar, the penalty must be aggravated." On August 10, 2019, during the
March for Jesus in
Brasilia, Bolsonaro classified what he considers "
gender ideology" as "something from the devil" and explained that he would not welcome policies that change the "traditional family" without an amendment to the
Brazilian constitution. He concluded by saying that, despite being approved, he maintained that the family is composed of a man and a woman, since "you can't amend the Bible"
Jean Wyllys On April 27, 2011, Bolsonaro became involved in a controversy with openly homosexual Federal Deputy
Jean Wyllys (PSOL). At a hearing on public safety, Wyllys allegedly told Justice José Cardozo that "crime has many causes and one of the causes is hatred, the fruit of racism and prejudice. Stimulating hatred and murder is not freedom of expression". After criticizing the national human rights plan, Bolsonaro said that he knew parents who "are ashamed of their gay children". Interrupted by
Manuela d'Ávila (PCdoB), president of the human rights commission, who found the remarks offensive, Bolsonaro denied having offended any parliamentarians. Wyllys admitted feeling offended by Bolsonaro's remarks, who attacked Wyllys by saying: "That's your problem. I wouldn't be proud to have a son like you". On leaving the hearing, Minister José Eduardo Cardozo said: "Human beings should be treated as human beings. People have the right to be whatever they want. We can even disagree, but we must not go around expressing hateful positions, deadly hatred."
School without Homophobia and sex education On May 11, 2011, Bolsonaro distributed pamphlets in the Senate opposing the "gay kit" which, according to him, the Ministry of Education planned to distribute in schools against homophobia and he considered to be "promoting homosexuality". The leaflets against a plan to promote human and LGBT rights were strongly opposed by Senator
Marinor Brito (PSOL). She, who defends the criminalization of homophobia and any statement against homosexual conduct, seeing Bolsonaro presenting leaflets to the media, reacted by slapping the papers and demanding to remove them; Bolsonaro reacted by calling her "heterophobic". Later, he said: "Since it's hard to find a male out there, I'm presenting myself as a male and she's all over it. She can't see a heterosexual in front of her. She jinxed me twice: once that I'm married and once that I'm not interested in her. It's very bad, I'm not interested." According to journalists, Brito and Bolsonaro almost physically assaulted each other. On the same day, Marinor Brito filed a lawsuit against him. Anthropologist Luis Mott said he would sue Bolsonaro because his pamphlets featured Mott's photo accompanied by phrases that, according to him, were not his own. (left) and Jair Bolsonaro. In an interview with
Playboy magazine in June 2011, Bolsonaro said: "I would be incapable of loving a homosexual son. I'm not going to be a hypocrite: I'd rather have my son die in an accident than appear with a man. As far as I'm concerned, he'll have died anyway." He also said that if a homosexual couple moved in next door, it would devalue his house. In July of the same year, during an interview with readers of
Época magazine, he stated that "if fighting to prevent the distribution of the 'gay kit' in primary schools with the intention of encouraging homosexuality, in a real affront to the family, is being prejudiced, then I am prejudiced, with great pride". On January 10, 2016, Bolsonaro posted a video on his Facebook page in which he criticized the public school curriculum which, according to him, includes information on homosexuality and sex education. He was referring to the book
Le Guide du zizi sexuel, which "encourages children to take an early interest in sex" and is being distributed to children as young as 6 years old. The
Ministry of Education (MEC) said in a statement on January 15 that it had nothing to do with the book. The same rumor had already circulated in 2013, when it had to be explained that there was no recommendation from the ministry about the book, nor would it be included in the National Textbook Program and the National School Library Program. In 2018, during the presidential election, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) ordered the removal of videos claiming that the French book
Le Guide du zizi sexuel (associated by Bolsonaro with the "gay kit") had been distributed by government programs while
Fernando Haddad was Minister of Education. The representation targeted Jair Bolsonaro and his sons
Carlos and Flávio Bolsonaro. According to Justice Carlos Horbach, the videos constitute "the dissemination of a fact that is known to be untrue, by the represented candidate and his supporters, in several posts made on social networks" which "generates misinformation in the electoral period, with damage to the political debate". He added that the book was not part of the School without Homophobia program, which was not even implemented by the MEC.
Racism and xenophobia Black people Bolsonaro disapproves of the application of
affirmative action, such as
racial quotas for Afro-Brazilians. In 2006, as a protest against the formulation of quota policies in public universities, he presented a supplementary bill in the Chamber of Deputies proposing the establishment of quotas for black and brown deputies, admitting that if the bill came to a vote, it would be against him. In an interview given to the program Custe o Que Custar (CQC) on March 28, 2011, the singer
Preta Gil asked him what he would do if his son fell in love with a black girl. Bolsonaro stated that he "wouldn't discuss promiscuity" and that he "doesn't face this risk because his children were very well educated". In the same week, Bolsonaro declared that he "doesn't care about these people", referring to LGBT movements. In response to the protests against Bolsonaro, his sons Carlos and Flávio Bolsonaro argued that the last statement he made in the interview, in which he classified interracial dating as "promiscuity", may have been misinterpreted due to an error in the program's editing. They also said, defending his statements against homosexuality in the family, that being homosexual is not "normal" and that the majority of Brazilians agree with Jair Bolsonaro, who defends the integrity of the family and security. Bolsonaro claimed that he assumed the question was about his son's relationship with a homosexual. His children treat all the people who accuse him of being homophobic and racist as "opportunists". He justified himself by saying that he was interviewed on a computer and that he didn't understand the last question of the interview. Bolsonaro announced that he would return to the program to clarify his statements, especially about Preta Gil's question. His comments were considered an "explicit case of racism" by
Luiza Bairros, chief minister of the
Special Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality. She referred to Bolsonaro's statement on racial quotas and said that freedom of expression cannot be confused with a crime of racial prejudice. According to her, Bolsonaro committed a crime established in the Brazilian constitution. His statements also resonated on social media. A Facebook page with more than 20,000 members protesting against Bolsonaro's alleged statements of homophobia and racism was launched. On Twitter, the hashtag "#
forabolsonaro" (#bolsonaroout) was among the most commented on of the week. Other websites counted more than twenty-five thousand signatures calling for Bolsonaro's mandate to be revoked. After the interview, originally aired on March 28, 2011, the CQC program replayed the controversial questions from the interview. Bolsonaro said he had understood that the relationship would be with a homosexual and replied that his children were "very well educated" and did not live in an environment like Preta Gil had "unfortunately" lived in.
Rafinha Bastos, one of the show's hosts, assumed that Bolsonaro had based his answer on the lack of a law against homophobia to prevent it from being considered a crime, as it would have been if the answer had been racist. He promised to explain himself publicly. Some groups in favor of Bolsonaro protested. A demonstration called on the internet took place on April 9 near
São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) in São Paulo. A group opposed to Bolsonaro, formed by around seventy people, displayed placards and war chants; the group in favor of Bolsonaro had around forty members. Despite the lack of physical aggression, eight members of the group supporting Bolsonaro and two of the group against him were arrested. The former were members of the Ultradefesa, União Nacionalista and Carecas groups, who were investigated for crimes of intolerance, and the latter were anarchist punks who did not carry any documents. A participant in the self-styled "nationalist" group had to be removed after arguing with a member of the gay movement. On social media, Bolsonaro's supporters called for him to run for president. Several institutions responsible for promoting human rights have called for Jair Bolsonaro to be investigated and punished. The National Movement for Human Rights demanded punishment for his statements, stating that it was "perplexed and outraged by the racist and homophobic offenses made by Jair Bolsonaro against Preta Gil, and consequently against both social groups." The Brazilian Association of Gays, Lesbians and Transsexuals called for a criminal investigation of Jair Bolsonaro on the grounds of racism and libel.
UNESCO called for Bolsonaro's remarks to be investigated.
Folha de S. Paulo called for him to be subjected to a political trial for discrimination and prejudice, while opposing his impeachment. The Torture Never Again group published a note repudiating Bolsonaro's speeches. The Brazilian federal government, through the National Council to Combat Discrimination and Promote the Rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals (CNCD/LGBT), stated that "Bolsonaro is reinforcing his homophobic, racist and sexist side, deliberately acting with postures incompatible with the decorum and ethics required of a representative of Brazilian society in the National Congress". According to Luiza Bairros, Minister of Racial Equality, Bolsonaro's statements were "an explicit case of racism". The Chamber's Human Rights Commission said it would investigate Bolsonaro for his speeches with discriminatory content. Eloi Ferreira de Araujo, president of the Palmares Foundation, expressed his indignation at Bolsonaro's remarks. On April 6, 2011, Bolsonaro skipped a meeting of the Human Rights Commission because, according to his office, he was preparing a defense against accusations of racism for the television interview. On the same day, demonstrators held a protest against Bolsonaro, displaying posters with a caricature of Bolsonaro resembling
Adolf Hitler and using the hashtag "#
forabolsonaro" (#bolsonaroout), adopted on Twitter to promote indignation against his statements. Yann Evanovick, president of the
Brazilian Union of High School Students (UBES), stated that "it is impossible for a country that is theoretically a full democracy to have prejudiced, homophobic and sexist parliamentarians like Bolsonaro". The
National Union of Students and twenty other organizations sent a document to the Human Rights Commission asking for Bolsonaro to be investigated for racism.
Marco Maia (PT), president of the Chamber of Deputies, said he was studying the possibility of changing the Chamber's code of ethics to allow for alternative punishments for Bolsonaro. Protesters from groups linked to UNE, indigenous, black and religious movements protested on April 7 at the Federal Chamber, comparing Bolsonaro to Hitler. The CQC interview resulted in Bolsonaro being sued several times for breach of decorum and racism. Preta Gil filed a lawsuit against him for racism, claiming that the statements were clearly racist. On April 6, 2011, he was notified by the Chamber's Internal Affairs Department to present a defense against petitions filed by his peers notifying him of the case. The Federal Government's Council for the Defense of the Human Person decided to forward a formal complaint to the Public Prosecutor's Office about Bolsonaro's alleged racism and homophobia. The Secretariat for Racial Equality and deputies
Édson Santos and Luiz Alberto, both from the PT, reiterated the Chamber's request. In 2013, an investigation was opened against Bolsonaro at the STF for allegedly racist statements made against Preta Gil, which was shelved for lack of evidence in 2015, based on the justification that the broadcaster did not make the full recording of the interview available, only the edited version.
Quilombolas In April 2017, in a speech at the Hebraica Club in Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro said he would end all indigenous lands and
quilombola communities in Brazil if elected in 2018. He also said he would end public funding for
NGOs: "You can be sure that if I get there (presidency of the Republic) there will be no money for NGOs. If it's up to me, every citizen will have a firearm in their home. There won't be a centimeter demarcated for indigenous reserves or
quilombolas." He also claimed that indigenous and
quilombola reserves hinder the economy. "Where there is indigenous land, there is wealth underneath it. We have to change that." After the statement, Bolsonaro was denounced by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Rio de Janeiro, which claimed that he had used insulting, prejudiced and discriminatory expressions with the aim of offending and ridiculing
quilombola communities and the black population. On October 3, 2017, he was ordered to pay a fine of R$50,000 for the crime of moral damage. The complaint was rejected by the STF on September 11 of the same year.
Indigenous peoples . Jair Bolsonaro has also questioned the Brazilian government's indigenous policy. In one of his speeches at a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies dealing with the issue in
Roraima in 2004, he said that the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), "despite being well-off and made up of people who speak our language and are educated", is unable to carry out land reform, while "stinking indigenous, not educated and not speaking our language" own 12% of Brazilian land and lobby the National Congress. His comments caused great indignation in the plenary among indigenous, parliamentarians and human rights groups, who considered that his speech violated the principle of non-discrimination in the Brazilian Constitution. One of the leaders of the
Sateré-Mawé people present at the public hearing threw a glass of water in Bolsonaro's direction. After being hit, he said: "He's an indigenous man who's in charge here in Brasilia, he's flown in, he's now going to eat a pork chop, have a beer, probably a whiskey, and maybe call someone to make his evening more pleasant. This is the indigenous man who comes here to talk about the indigenous reserve. He should go and eat some grass out there to maintain his origins." During the
presidency of Jair Bolsonaro(2019–2023), a series of
mass deaths, famine,
forced displacements and other major
human rights violations took place in the Brazilian
Yanomami Indigenous Territory. Such events reportedly started or were aggravated from 2019 on as a consequence of rampant
exploitation of natural resources by individuals and companies with state approval, and have been frequently said to constitute a
genocide against the
Yanomami people. It is part of the larger ongoing
genocide of Indigenous peoples in Brazil.
Immigrants In September 2015, during an interview with the
Opção newspaper in
Goiás, Bolsonaro said: "I don't know what the commanders' adherence is, but if they reduce the number of
Armed Forces personnel, it means fewer people on the streets to deal with the MST criminals, the Haitians, Senegalese, Bolivians and all the scum of the earth that are now arriving, including the Syrians. The scum of the earth is arriving in Brazil as if we didn't have enough problems to deal with." In a speech at the Hebraica Club in 2017, he said that "we can't open the doors to everyone". In April 2017, the
Special Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality issued a statement rejecting his statements on the subject. In 2018, Bolsonaro defended the creation of "refugee camps" for Venezuelans seeking shelter in Brazil. In the same interview, when asked if he believed Dilma Rousseff would complete her second term, he wished "that she ends today, with a heart attack or cancer, [in] any way." == Attacks on the press and fake news ==