The federal government has sent an out-of-court notice to Brazilian weekly IstoÉ after it criticized far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on a recent cover, calling him a “merchant of death” and describing him as Adolf Hitler.
The article in question was a scathing attack on Mr Bolsonaro’s response to the coronavirus, claiming that the Senate’s soon-to-be-completed Covid inquiry is Brazil’s response to the Nuremberg trials. “It is time to understand the scale of the disaster perpetrated by the president and his cronies,” reads the article. However, instead of claiming a standard right of reply, the feds suggested that IstoÉ completely rework its article, replacing the cover of the issue with one of its choosing.
Instead of the article entitled “The Architect of Tragedy”, the government’s legal adviser offered a piece entitled “Live, work, dignity”, detailing the “programs and public progress developed by the Brazilian state since the beginning of the health crisis”.
Instead of Hitler’s blanket, the solicitor general’s suggestion looks more like a federal government campaign poster, with Mr. Bolsonaro embracing smiling, marching Brazilians during the country’s independence celebrations on September 7. The Solicitor General’s office agrees to take legal action if the suggestions are not accepted within seven days.
