In the middle of a Senate session, the international adviser to the Presidency of the Republic, Filipe Martins, was caught making gestures behind the back of the Senate president, Rodrigo Pacheco (DEM-MG), deemed obscene by a senator present.
Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP) complained about Martins’ actions and asked during the session that he be evicted from the premises of the house.
Filipe Martins accompanied Chancellor Ernesto Araújo on Wednesday (24), who was participating in a thematic session of the Senate to explain the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain vaccines against the new coronavirus.
Martins was seated just behind Pacheco. As the President of the Senate spoke, the International Advisor to the Presidency gestured with his hand, forefinger and thumb in a circle, while the other fingers are stretched out.
In a loud speech, demonstrating a revolt, the leader of the opposition, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), demanded that the international adviser to the presidency be evaluated during the session.
“I am aware that during Your Excellency’s speech [presidente Rodrigo Pacheco], the gentleman who was right behind you, and I have a video of it, Mr. Filipe Martins, who is the Special Advisor for International Affairs to President Jair Bolsonaro, spoke during your speech, demonstrating obscene gestures, in my opinion, “he said to Randolfe.
“I don’t know what was the meaning of Mr. Filipe’s gesture. It was good for him to explain it, but it is unacceptable. In a session of the Senate, during a speech by the President of the Senate, a man makes obscene gestures, he makes fun of the speech of the President of our Chamber ”, continued the senator.
“It is unacceptable, it is intolerable. I ask, in a question of order, that you immediately remove this gentleman, if he is still there, from the premises of the Senate. This session has no way of continuing, we cannot listen that much sir who offended the president of the Senate and who offended this plenary, senators, senators ladies. I ask, I ask yours, that it be removed from the premises of the Senate and even condemned to a fine by the legislative police.
Pacheco, however, decided to continue the session, saying the case would be investigated later.
“I will ask the General Secretariat of the Office, as well as the Legislative Police, to identify the reported fact, but I will not hinder the progress of this session of the Federal Senate, because it is very important that we listen to the Minister State of Foreign Affairs, who is appearing here to be able to provide the necessary clarifications to the senators, ”Pacheco said.
In some countries, which are currently experiencing an increase in the number of far-right movements, Martins’ gesture is seen as an indicator of the white supremacist movement. The three outstretched fingers symbolize the letter “w”, which would refer to the English word “white”. The circle formed represents the letter “p”, for the word “power”. In other words, the symbol is indicated as symbolizing “white power”.
Folha asked the Presidency of the Republic to hear the government’s version, but did not get any feedback until the report was published. Filipe Martins did not respond either.
Martins is an admirer of the writer Olavo de Carvalho, intellectual guru of Bolonarianism. Representative of the ideological wing of the government, he is considered, along with the deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, as one of the main influences today in the Itamaraty led by Ernesto.