Why did you decide to enter politics?When I left Globo, I received about fifteen invitations for very interesting things, but I wanted something different. I even thought about helping an NGO, but no NGO is bigger than politics. It was the chance to make a contribution at a particularly delicate moment in Brazil. If it was not Bolsonaro, if I were another president and in another situation, I don’t know if I would be entering politics. Bolsonaro has made the conversation and climate in society so much worse that everyone who can should participate.
How has the public reaction been?People were very happy, they say “man, that’s cool, that courage, that’s good”. But they also say “don’t go in, you’ll get burned, this thing is heavy, there’s a lot of dirt”. This reaction reflects what we have built, which is a certain demoralization of politics. It’s kind of crazy because politics is all of us and the world we want to live in. So how do you feel bad about entering politics?
Are you attacked for being from Globo?On the street, no. There are people who say “I love your work, but I don’t think you should get into politics”. That’s all, and even then, very little. But on social media there are people talking bad, cursing. It’s from the game. I just worry a lot about violence. The death of PT by a Bolsonarista in Foz do Iguaçu shows that people are completely crazy about what it is to think differently.
Why the PSB and support for Lula?My father’s parents fled Recife because of political persecution. My father was exiled, left in 1964 and returned under amnesty in 1980. Outside, it is very clear what corruption in Rio meant for Brazil. Five governors were arrested, one was impeached. I thought: who has the best chance of breaking this streak? It’s Marcelo Freixo (PSB), because Cláudio Castro (PL) is more of the same. I covered trips by Lula, FHC, Dilma. I saw the respect that Brazil had abroad. Bolsonaro threw everything on the floor. Lula is today who has the most chances of defeating him.
Has professional journalism, Bolsonaro’s constant target, fulfilled its role well?There are three recent episodes in which it didn’t go well: in the 2013 demonstrations, in what I call Dilma’s coup and during Lava-Jato. The mainstream media, and that includes TV Globo, was a little pleased to remain an observer, and not very critical of what was happening.
Published in VEJA of August 10, 2022, issue no. 2801