São Paulo’s teetotal governor, Tarcísio de Freitas, has been forced to apologise after responding to a deadly methanol poisoning crisis by joking that he would only start worrying when bootleggers began making fake Coca-Cola.
Freitas, a close ally of the former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, made the comment during a press conference about his response to an alcohol contamination scandal focused on his state that has killed at least three people. The victims include a 30-year-old mother who died after drinking a vodka and fruit juice cocktail at a party.
Brazil’s health minister, Alexandre Padilha, a doctor, has urged citizens to avoid white spirits such as vodka and gin until authorities discover the source of the tainted drinks. “We’re not talking about an essential product in people’s lives,” Padilha said last week.
On Monday, Freitas appeared to make light of the situation as he described the concerns of manufacturers of spirits such as Jack Daniel’s and Johnnie Walker had over the illegal counterfeiting of their products. “[Alcohol] isn’t my cup of tea,” said the presidential hopeful.
“The day they start faking Coca-Cola is the day I’ll worry. It’s just as well they haven’t reached this point yet,” Freitas added with an awkward smile.
The remark went viral and unleashed a torrent of criticism, with many comparing it to Bolsonaro’s callous and incompetent response to Covid, which killed more than 700,000 Brazilians.
“So what? I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?” Bolsonaro asked a reporter in April 2020 when asked about the fast-rising death toll. A year later, with more than 260,000 dead, Bolsonaro told citizens to stop “whining”.
Freitas – who hopes to inherit Bolsonaro’s political movement after his mentor’s recent sentencing to 27 years in prison for plotting a military coup – voiced regret for his comments on Tuesday.
He admitted “cracking a joke” to lighten the mood but claimed his words had been “really misinterpreted”.
“I ask for forgiveness, from the families who are suffering after losing loved-ones [and] from business owners whose businesses are suffering,” said Freitas, who many expect to challenge the leftwing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for the presidency in next year’s election.
