Vacations, shopping, entertainment, even his daughter’s wedding, all expenses were charged to the presidential credit card
About 20,000 euros in a modest restaurant, almost 10,000 euros in a bakery the day after his son’s wedding: the declassification of the expenses of the former president of Brazil Zach Bolsonaro brought to light incredible costs.
Account movements for the presidential credit card during the four years of the far-right Bolsonaro’s term (2019-2022) were published on an official website of the government of his successor, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, who has begun to lift a secrecy for 100 years which his far-right predecessor had imposed on thousands of official documents.
A total of 27.6 million reais (almost €5 million at the current exchange rate) was spent with this card, which was used by 21 people in his team.
Adjusted for inflation, this spending is almost half of that of Lula’s first term (2003-2006). But in the case of the latter, they mainly concerned accommodation expenses for trips abroad.
That was not the case with Bolsonaro, who also boasted several times during his tenure that he did not spend “a single penny” on the presidential credit card, unlike his predecessors.
Successive revelations
Information website Uol, for example, reported that 1.2 million reais (about 217,000 euros) were spent during the 28 days of public holidays at the end of the former head of state’s years in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
A payment of more than 71,000 reais (almost 13,000 euros) was made on January 2, 2022, for example, at a gas station in the southern state of Santa Catarina, where Bolsonaro had caused a stir by riding a jet ski while severe flooding hit several parts of his country.
The presidential credit card was also used to pay 1.46 million reais (over 230,000 euros) over four years at a luxury hotel in Guaruza, a seaside resort near Sao Paulo (southeast). According to the G1 website, members of his team were staying at this hotel, while he was staying at a military compound.
20,000 euros in a modest restaurant
The biggest food expenditure is also the one that raises the most questions: 109,266 reais (about 20,000 euros) spent in one transaction at a modest restaurant in Boa Vista, in the Amazonian state of Romaima (north). Enough to order over 2,000 times the most expensive dish, roast chicken with cassava flour, at the modest price of 50 reais (9 euros).
The presidential credit card was also used to pay more than 362,000 reais (€65,000) over four years to a bakery in Rio de Janeiro, including 55,000 reais in a transaction the day after his son Eduardo’s wedding and 33,000 reais on the eve of the event by supporters of the motorcycle procession through the streets of this city.
In total, 8,600 reais (about 1,500 euros) were spent in ice cream shops, i.e. 62 purchases in five stores.
RES-EMP
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
