When he first met Raul Seixas, Paulo Coelho was suspicious of the aspiring rocker who was interested in ETs. Together, they developed an interest in magic, created a famous society, and composed songs that are still eternal in Brazilian rock.
They also faced the dictatorship. Their story with the political police has been a secret until now. Raul may have turned Paulo over to the military.
The suggestion appears in the book "Raul Seixas: Don't Say the Song Is Lost," by journalist Jotabê Medeiros, scheduled for release on the 1st of November. The case, according to the book, happened in May 1974 when Raul and Coelho were enjoying the success of "Krig-ha, Bandolo!" The album had been released the year before and had sold more than 100,000 copies.
Paulo Coelho declined to participate in the report and to elucidate on the episode. "I'm not the type of person who likes to look at wounds that have already healed," he said by email.
The writer Paulo Coelho revealed, on Wednesday (23), that he knew about the possibility that Raul Seixas had handed him over to the military during the dictatorship. "I was quiet for 45 years. I thought it was a secret I would take to the grave," he wrote on Twitter.
According to Medeiros, the military dictatorship's Department of Political and Social Order called Raul to its headquarters. It also called his friend to accompany him and help clarify the songs they had made in partnership. Paulo Coelho didn't know, but this wasn't the first time in those days that Raul had gone to the building.
"I compared the dates and saw that between Raul's first statement to the Dops and the second statement in which he took Paulo Coelho, it took very little time," Medeiros said.
According to the book, Raul entered the headquarters of the agency, stayed for half an hour, and returned, trying to give some encrypted message to his friend, who was waiting for him. Coelho did not understand and was called in for questioning, which included questions about the booklet accompanying the album "Krig-ha, Bandolo!," and the Alternative Society sung by Raul.
Police went to the writer's apartment and arrested his girlfriend, Adalgisa Rios. The next day, when released, Coelho took a taxi with Raul but was captured again and taken to an unknown place where he was tortured for two weeks.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon