Olavo de Carvalho Instigates Violence; Fellow Citizens, Please Renounce Him

A Facebook post from the conservative writer announces a series of violent acts and asks followers to carry them out

Caetano Veloso

Olavo de Carvalho recently suggested in a post on social media that, should Bolsonaro be elected, immediately after the new president takes office, his opposition will be not only defeated, but totally destroyed and groups, institutions, and even individuals.

He says that the people who consider Bolsonaro a threat to democracy are not fighting to win an election, but fighting "for political, social, and even physical survival." This is an announcement of a murderous
authoritarianism.

Bolsonaro has said that the dictatorship "killed too little".  He has used a camera tripod as a rifle, pretending to shoot PT followers. He has praised the Coronel Brilhante Ustra, known for torturing and killing people during the military dictatorship. When a crazy man stabbed him, all the other presidential runners vehemently condemned the act and its perpetrator. But when one of his voters killed an artist who said out loud he voted for PT, Bolsonaro said he had nothing to do with it.

Writer and philosopher Olavo de Carvalho, one of the most important Brazilian conservative thinkers - Vivi Zanatta/Folhapress

Carvalho's post announces a series of violent acts and asks his followers to carry them out as soon as Bolsonaro arrives (if he arrives) to the Alvorada (Brazil's presidential residence).

It's clear that every Brazilian citizen deserving of the title -- whether they are Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Roberto Carlos, Roberto Schwartz, Suzana Vieira, Chico Buarque, Luiz Tenório de Oliveira Lima, Letícia Sabatela, Fernando Haddad, Zezé de Camargo, Miriam Leitão or ACM Neto -- should act against electing Bolsonaro. Unless Bolsonaro publicly disavows what Olavo de Carvalho wrote. By the way, it would be the only to give any credence to his attempt to minimize the meaning of his old clamors.

Carvalho, the sub-Heidegger of our sub-Hitler (or the sub-Spengler of our sub-Goebbels), says that PT followers, artists, media, teachers, journalists and intellectuals use illicit and immoral resources to obtain victory. However, I have just read copy written by Bolsonaro's camp, which says: "PT breaks religious images, rubs the cross in their genitals, piss in the Bible and now they want Catholic support."
This has to be the millionth fake-news issued by the Bolsonaro campaign.

Carvalho is a known anti-left personality. He taught generations of young Brazilians a delirious and resented anticommunist ideology.

Decades ago, a young acquaintance of mine converted to Islam due to the precepts from her charismatic teacher, who happened to be Carvalho. The strength of Fritjof Schuon's writings, an author who previously fascinated me, must have beautifully reached this young lady, through Carvalho's brilliant explanations. But I suspect that what inspired the professor was not Islam's beauty, tradition or spiritual richness. What enlivened him were the late theocracies that disfigured the religion.

Carvalho today poses for pictures in the US holding heavy weapons. I wonder how useful this crusade of his is to the arms industry. He is innocently useful even when he becomes suspiciously paranoid. For him, the modernity's adventure can't be anything else but evil.

This wise intellectual with an insane mind doesn't realize that the only case that I know of an artist who masturbated with a cross (something this person confessed to in a TV interview) - and it happens to be a person that now endorses him.

I have never been a PT follower. I have never been a communist. I hate having heard from José Dirceu (a politician that formerly belonged to PT's high command) that it was not about winning an election; it was about taking power. My father taught me to be against Stalin, and seeing the difference between the workers' real lives and the plans of the so-called political "vanguards", I learned to be against Lenin as well. Facing the lines to see Lenin's mummy in Moscow, my scorn only grew - I also despise any smidge of a cult of personality around Lula. But I will do everything in my power to stop the increase of inequality and, above all, I will defend the rights of every person.

I consider Olavo de Carvalho's post to be an instigation to violence. I ask my fellow citizens to renounce it. Or we can pretend his candidate already won, and thus, can have everyone who didn't vote for him killed?

I will respect as president whoever is elected. But I will demand of him to show commitment to human rights, and, as the other citizens, to reject Olavo de Carvalho's suggestion.

*Caetano Veloso is a musician, songwriter and author.
*Olavo de Carvalho is a philosopher and writer. He currently lives in the United States.

Translated by NATASHA MADOV

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