Billionaire Elon Musk started the day this Friday (20) needing to give answers to the “market”: an American magazine report Business Insider published a complaint about an alleged case of sexual harassment against him (click on the link to read the original text, in English). According to the magazine, he closed a confidentiality agreement worth US$ 250,000 (R$ 1.2 million at the current price) so that the victim, a flight attendant from SpaceX, a company of Musk’s conglomerate, would remain silent about the case. The complaint, however, did not make “the richest man in the world” give up a commitment made for the same day: a trip to Brazil.
Musk was received by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) at a luxury hotel in Porto Feliz (SP), about 100 kilometers from the capital of São Paulo. The event, which featured members of the first echelon of the government and businessmen with greater or lesser alignment with Bolsonaro, was celebrated by the president’s supporters (with the hashtag: “#BolsoMusk”).
Underlined by the Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, who met Musk in November last year in the United States, the meeting served to present alleged propositions of the billionaire for Brazil, especially for the Amazon region.
Faria, who was the first member of the government to confirm the visit (already this Friday morning), took the visitor to heart: in an official speech at the event, he said that “everyone in Brazil” loves the businessman. On Twitter, he celebrated the meeting: “nobody expected this one”.
No one expected this! 🇺🇸
Since we are going to connect the Amazon, we brought in one of the biggest entrepreneurs in the world to help us in this mission. We accept the challenge and go to the end! Thank you, @elonmuskfor the visit. Let’s do this!!! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/AOXUPp5f9s
— Fábio Faria 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 (@fabiofaria) May 20, 2022
Na abertura do encontro no hotel do interior paulista, Bolsonaro disse que o anúncio de compra do Twitter feito por Musk em abril foi “um sopro de esperança”. The president did not, however, mention the fact that Musk suspended the acquisition.
“The most important thing about his presence is something that is immaterial. Today we could call it the ‘myth of freedom’. to the businessman a medal of honor for supposed services rendered to help the Amazon.
The official reason for the meeting, as announced by the billionaire on Twitter, is to guarantee internet connection to 19,000 rural areas and offer “environmental monitoring” in the Amazon – which is already done with excellence in the country, including by agencies linked to the public power, such as the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe).
Super excited to be in Brazil for launch of Starlink for 19,000 unconnected schools in rural areas & environmental monitoring of Amazon! 🇧🇷 🌳 🛰 ♥️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
By late Friday afternoon, the above message, in which he said he was “super excited” to be in Brazil, was the only mention of Musk on Twitter about his visit to the country.
About the sexual harassment accusation episode, he preferred to be ironic. Before landing in the country, he wrote that, finally, the term “Elongate” could be used to illustrate a scandal about him.
Finally, we get to use Elongate as scandal name. It’s kinda perfect. 🤣 https://t.co/qSNH7lsn72
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
Jair Bolsonaro and Fábio Faria did not mention the complaint against the visitor on their social networks.
Editing: Rodrigo Durao Coelho
