Good morning! This week, we discuss President Bolsonaro’s attempt to gag artists at Lollapalooza – but which only resulted in making them more political. The Health Ministry backpedaled on calling the pandemic over. And lingering job market woes.
Bolsonaro tries (and fails) to censor artists
São Paulo hosted the Lollapalooza music festival this weekend, the first major event of its kind since the pandemic. But music was not the main talking point. After singer Pabllo Vittar hoisted a flag with the face of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on stage on Friday, President Jair Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party tried to have electoral courts institute a gag order against singers.
Success… On Saturday, a member of the Superior Electoral Court issued an injunction siding with the president. The judge argued that Pabllo Vittar engaged in an illegal act of electoral campaigning before the regulated period had begun, and instituted a BRL 50,000 (USD 10,540) fine for future transgressions.
… and failure. The Bolsonaro campaign failed to enter the correct data on the company running Lollapalooza, using information from inactive firms. The blunder prevented Lollapalooza from being served the decision on time for it to be effective.
- Moreover, Mr. Bolsonaro’s...