An in-depth video report detailed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's growing list of scandals and deep ties to Brazil's "most violent, lawless, and murderous paramilitary gangs" just before Bolsonaro is set to meet with his right-wing American counterpart Donald Trump in the White House Tuesday afternoon.
"The facts around this trip are vital for the American media—and especially the American press covering the White House—to understand, so that they can report properly and question Bolsonaro during his trip to the White House about the realities of his presidency," said The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald, "rather than the branding and perception the Brazilian government is trying to sell around the world."
The image Bolsonaro is attempting to convey is one of a "strong" and "honest" leader, Greenwald said, but recent revelations have severely undermined this narrative while raising disturbing questions about the Brazilian president and his sons.
Eduardo, Bolsonaro's youngest son and a member of Brazil's Congress, is accompanying his father on the U.S. trip.
"Key news events of the last several weeks—including the arrests of two former Rio de Janeiro police officers for the March 2018 assassination of Rio City Council Councilor Marielle Franco—have highlighted the most damaging and, to many, most terrifying revelations about Bolsonaro and his three politician sons: their extensive, direct, multilayered, and deeply personal ties to the paramilitary gangs and militias responsible for Brazil's most horrific violence," wrote Greenwald and Victor Pougy, both journalists based in Brazil.
Read The Intercept's full report here. Watch the video:
