Former Foreign Minister Confirms to CPI Bolsonaro's Action for Chloroquine and Lies about His Aggressions against China

Ernesto Araujo gave testimony this Tuesday to Covid's CPI in the Senate

In testimony on Tuesday (18) for the Covid CPI, former minister of foreign affairs Chancellor Ernesto Araújo confirmed that he mobilized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to purchase hydroxychloroquine in his testimony for the Covid CPI. He added that President Jair Bolsonaro supported the process.

Ernesto also lied about his friction with China, a country that supplies raw material for the production of vaccines, and the attacks that he carried out against the Asian country.

Former Brazil's Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo gestures during a meeting of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee (CPI) to investigate government actions and management during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at the Federal Senate in Brasilia, Brazil May 18, 2021. REUTERS/Adriano Machado - REUTERS

At the time of the testimony, he was reprimanded by the president of the CPI, Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), who stated that the former chancellor was "missing the truth."

Ernesto confirmed to CPI information released by Folha that the Bolsonaro government mobilized the Brazilian diplomatic structure to acquire hydroxychloroquine, a drug with no proven efficacy for the treatment of Covid-19.

In one of the most heated moments of the CPI session, the former chancellor denied that he had attacked China.

“I don't see any statement that I made as an anti-Chinese. In official notes, we complained about the behavior of the Chinese Embassy, ​​but no statement could be classified as anti-Chinese, ”he said.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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