Events Arrested for selling drinks and viagra
The Brazilian army gave rise to talk this Monday, after a deputy revealed the purchase of
35,000 Viagra tablets,
which generated a wave of sarcastic comments on social networks.
"There is a shortage of medicines in hospitals, but
Bolsonaro
and his associates are spending public money to buy little blue pills," said center-left deputy
Elias Vaz,
who said he had asked the
Defense Ministry for
an explanation about this "immoral" expense.
The parliamentarian said that he obtained this information from the
Government Transparency Portal,
which allows access to public spending data upon request.
According to Vaz, the documents do not mention Viagra by name, but show approval for the purchase of thousands of tablets containing
"sildenafil",
the molecule of the famous drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.
The Ministry of Defense explained in a press release sent to AFP that "the acquisition of sildenafil" was "intended for the treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension", given that drugs such as Viagra also allow the vessels of the lungs to dilate.
This justification did not prevent Internet users from having fun on social networks, some evoking in particular the memory of the
military "dictatorship",
with generals in power from 1964 to 1985.
"Some say that these tablets are to help the Armed Forces destroy
democracy
with more force than they have done lately," joked the Brazilian satirical blog Sensacionalista.
The cartoons also showed
tanks with their barrels bent down.
In a more serious tone, leftist deputy
Marcelo Freixo
recalled that the government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro approved that order while vetoing "a bill that provided free distribution of sanitary napkins to poor women," before go back and approve it.
Freixo said on Monday that he would appear before the Federal Public Ministry to investigate, in addition, a possible purchase with surcharges in the 35,000 tablets.
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Ministry of Defence
Brazil
Jair Bolsonaro