Brazil’s presidential elections are today. The main battle will be between Jair Bolsonaro and Lula Da Silva, who are the leading candidates in the polls. To reinforce his campaign message, Paulo Guedes, current Minister of Economy, reminded voters of the evils of socialism.
In a dialogue with Flow Podcast, the head of the economic portfolio practically gave a history lesson by referring to egalitarian ideals.
“There is an attraction for ideas that are apparently more generous. It is clear that the left attracts, because it promises heaven, but only delivers hell. It delivered dictatorship in China, dictatorship in Russia, dictatorship in Cuba, dictatorship in Venezuela (…) That is what it gives,” began the minister, making a clear reference to Lula.
Thereafter, Guedes seemed to recite a history book in his head and exemplified his point with two historical facts. “There was a revolution in France and another in the United States. The noblest ideals were in France: liberty, equality, and fraternity. But the vision was also interventionist. As a result, in France, only 3 or 4 years after the beheading of the king, Robespierre himself was guillotined (…) The ideals were noble, but it was death, death, blood and blood”, the official pointed out.
To conclude, he contrasted this revolution with another that took place on the other side of the Pacific, that of the United States. “Around the same time, the Americans came and said, ‘we are not going to be taxed without representation.’ They fought for this and created a very simple constitution that said, ‘we want freedom to undertake, freedom to choose our religion, we want freedom’.
“From there on, France went in the wrong direction and the Americans, on the contrary, became the power of the world,” Guedes concluded.
