Brazil is a factory for political scandals. After some of these episodes became beer labels (click here to see the first edition of the project), the time has come to update some of these labels with new scandals experienced daily in this tropical country.
"Esse país me obriga a beber" is a series of labels with the biggest political scandals in Brazil in recent years, to try to explain why Brazilians drink so much. Make no mistake, it is not the people's fault, the country that forces us to drink.
In an environment of intense political polarization, the then presidential candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, suffered an attack during a campaign act in the city of Juiz de Fora (MG); he was stabbed in the abdomen while being carried by supporters. The perpetrator of the crime was identified as Adélio Bispo, who was subsequently arrested. Because of this, Bolsonaro followed the rest of his campaign with a focus on social networks, few public agendas and without attending any presidential debate. Several conspiracy theories arose around this attack, but none is supported by the facts found by the Federal Police.
During Carnival 2019, President Jair Bolsonaro shared on his social networks a pornographic video between two men on a street block and, the next day, asked his followers what the expression “golder shower” meant. The case reverberated for days on the internet, giving vent to thousands of twitters and memes about the pee to which the president was referring. Several users criticized Bolsonaro's stance, which he delivered to thousands of Internet users themes that he himself always considered unsuitable for mass circulation.
The first major political crisis of the Jair Bolsonaro government as president took place in February 2019, with the suspicion that his party, PSL, made use of "orange" candidacies in the 2018 elections to divert public funds. The national president of the PSL during the elections was Gustavo Bebianno, a figure very close to Bolsonaro and one of the first ministers announced by the administration for the post of Secretary General of the Presidency. After hearing their private conversations exposed, Bebianno denied his relationship with the transfers, but ended up being exonerated. The case became national mockery and in the following weeks hundreds of Brazilians took to the streets during the carnival dressed in oranges, in reference to the alleged “orange” candidates of the PSL.
President Bolsonaro is considering nominating Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro to take over the Brazilian embassy in the United States. Asked about his father's decision to nominate him for the most important post in Brazilian diplomacy, Eduardo Bolsonaro replied that he has experience around the world and has even fried hamburgers in the USA. Opposition politicians and even allies of the president classified the intention as a practice of nepotism. However, the choice should still go through the Senate Foreign Relations Commission.
As of June 2019, The Intercept Brasil website publishes a series of articles disclosing controversial conversations (leaked anonymously) between ex-judge Sérgio Moro and prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, with content that supposedly puts the exemption of “ Lava Jato task force ”, for operating with political, partisan and ideological and non-legal motivations. According to jurists, such a way of operating disrespects the principles of impartiality, independence and equidistance between defense and prosecution. The task force, however, vehemently denies such accusations.
