‘It will not go unpunished’, says Rene Silva about lawsuit for injury against Jair Bolsonaro

The threat of opening a lawsuit left the field of theory and became reality. Recently called by Jair Bolsonaro the “chief of drug trafficking” of the group of favelas where he lives, the activist, communicator and founder of the NGO Voz das Comunidades Rene Silva formed a team of lawyers to sue the president for the crimes of libel and defamation.

The accusations took place after Lula, the PT candidate for the presidency, visited Complexo do Alemão on October 12. Bolsonaro said shortly afterwards that his opponent was in the community to “meet with drug dealers”. He further stated that “no one went in there without the police”.

The invitation to visit had come from Rene, a well-known and respected community leader in Rio – and abroad as well. In 2015, Rene was listed by Forbes as one of the 30 most influential young Brazilians under 30.

Five years later, he won the Cariocas of the Year Award from Veja Rio magazine for his work in the area of ​​”Citizenship” and, last year, he was elected by “GQ” Man of the Year in the “Social Responsibility” category. Rene was among the leaders of black and social movements in Brazil at the meeting with British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, this Monday (7). On the occasion, he gave the seven-time world champion a cap with the inscription “CPX”.

The accessory, the same one that Lula presented on that occasion, motivated a series of fake news spread by the president and his followers, who associated the acronym to organized crime. The three letters, however, evoke the word Complex.

“He didn’t just hit me, who was even nominally cited as the ‘boss’, like the other community leaders. They were also there at the meeting with Lula and were hit. Bolsonaro was prejudiced against all people who live in favelas in Brazil and this is unacceptable. It will not go unpunished”, he says. “We put together all the paperwork to start the process, everything is already on its way.”

Rene told the F5 who after the meeting in Complexo do Alemão became even closer to Lula and, especially, to the president-elect’s wife, the sociologist Rosângela da Silva, Janja. “She’s an amazing person. A sweetheart. Always available. We talk daily, but now we’ve taken a break because they’re on vacation. In a little while, we’ll talk again.”

The community leader gave the presidential couple a few hints about the new government. One of the ideas: the creation of a committee of favelas in Brazil. “Few people know, but if favelas were a state, we would be the fourth largest in the country in terms of population and also in terms of economy,” he says.