'I'd eat an Indian': Bolsonaro's old video goes viral, Brazil oppn slams him

Edited By: Moohita Kaur Garg
Brazil Updated: Oct 10, 2022, 02:04 PM(IST)

As Brazil gears up for the October 30th Presidential runoffs, the political and "smear" campaigns by the two main contenders; right-wing Jair Bolsonaro and leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, are heating up rapidly.  Photograph:( Reuters )

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Judge Paulo de Tarso Sanseverino of the Superior Electoral Tribunal who had the ad taken down said that it was "out of context," and that the interview had been edited to change its original meaning, "suggesting that the candidate could accept the possibility of consuming human flesh in any circumstance"

"I'd eat an Indian, no problem at all," boasted Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro in an interview several years ago, referring to the country's indigenous community. Now, the video has been unearthed in the run-up to the Presidential election run-off and the opposition is trying to weaponise it.

As Brazil gears up for the October 30th runoffs, the political and "smear" campaigns by the two main contenders; right-wing Jair Bolsonaro and leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, are heating up rapidly. 

Watch | Brazil: Bolsonaro calls Lula 'drunk' ahead of runoff

In a series of ads, Lula has been quick to point out the various blunders his rival has made. One video, which an electoral judge has now banned, unearthed a damning interview that Bolsonaro gave to a foreign journalist.

The cannibalism statement has taken the internet by surprise. It was uttered by Bolsonaro in 2016 during an interview with Simon Romero, a New York Times journalist.

Also read | 'The war in Ukraine would not have happened' if Donald Trump was 'still in power,' says Jair Bolsonaro

As per a Guardian report of the interview which is in Portuguese, Bolsonaro describes the destitution he witnessed during a visit to Haiti. He starts by discussing the "unhygienic" Haitian women involved in the sex trade and switches to making claims about what he claims was a cannibalistic ritual practised by the indigenous Yanomami community in northern Roraima state.

"There was this time I was in Surucuru … and an Indian had died and they were cooking him. They cook Indians. It’s their culture," claims Bolsonaro to the confounded interviewer, who then asks him "Their bodies?"

Bolsonaro confirms this and then goes on to make claims about a "ritual".

“They cook it for two or three days and then eat it with banana."

"I wanted to see an Indian being cooked but the guy said if you go, you have to eat it. ‘I’ll eat it,’ I said. But no one else in my group wanted to go … so I didn’t go. But I’d eat an Indian, no problem at all. It’s their culture."
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Lula's ad then has an off-camera narrator say: "After all the absurdities Brazil has heard from Bolsonaro, here's another, even more horrifying: he reveals that he would eat human flesh. Brazil can no longer put up with Bolsonaro."

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Also read | Bolsonaro, Lula garner significant endorsements as they prepare for Brazil's presidential runoff

Since the ad and the interview went viral a Yanomami leader, Junior Hekurari has categorically denied that his culture practices cannibalistic rituals.

Judge Paulo de Tarso Sanseverino of the Superior Electoral Tribunal who had the ad taken down said that it was "out of context," and that the interview had been edited to change its original meaning, "suggesting that the candidate could accept the possibility of consuming human flesh in any circumstance."

(With inputs from agencies)

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