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🇧🇷 Brazil /Elections & Politics

Brazil's PL party uses Bolsonaro voice in convention video amid AI debate

From Folha de S.Paulo · () Portuguese

Translated from Portuguese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The Liberal Party (PL) in Santa Catarina, Brazil, used a video featuring a voice resembling former President Jair Bolsonaro during a party convention.
  • The video combined generic images with photos of Bolsonaro and his family, and the narration included personal anecdotes, sparking debate about its origin, potentially AI-generated or an old recording.
  • During the convention, Flávio Bolsonaro criticized restrictions on his father's visits and communication, comparing his situation to the AI-5 period of Brazil's military dictatorship.

At a convention in Santa Catarina, Brazil, the Liberal Party (PL) presented a video featuring a voice that strongly resembled former President Jair Bolsonaro, accompanied by a montage of images. The video included generic scenes of Brazilian workers, personal photos of Bolsonaro and his children, and what appeared to be AI-generated imagery. The narration, delivered in the first person, touched upon personal moments from Bolsonaro's life, such as a plea for his daughter's well-being after the 2018 stabbing attempt.

In the most difficult moment of my life, I only asked God not to leave my 7-year-old daughter an orphan.

— Jair Bolsonaro (voiceover)Recounting a personal moment after the 2018 stabbing attempt, as heard in the convention video.

Luiz Magno, an attorney for PL-SC, stated that the video used an old recording of Bolsonaro. However, the event organizers and Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign team did not confirm whether the voice was original, simulated, or AI-generated. Some segments of the narration bore similarities to a 2019 speech by the then-president. This follows a similar incident at the party's national convention in São Paulo the previous week, where a video with Bolsonaro's image and voice, presented as AI-generated, drew scrutiny from Minister Alexandre de Moraes, prompting a defense statement that Bolsonaro had not authorized its use.

During the convention, Flávio and Carlos Bolsonaro voiced strong complaints about the prohibition of visits to their father. Flávio described his father as censored and incommunicado, drawing a parallel to the AI-5, a severe measure enacted during Brazil's military dictatorship in 1968. The former president faces restrictions on visits and social media usage. Earlier in the month, Supreme Federal Tribunal Minister Alexandre de Moraes prohibited Bolsonaro from receiving visits from Flávio for 90 days after the senator shared a letter signed by his father.

The family is forbidden from seeing their own father. He has also been censored, incommunicado, and unable to see his family. Even Antonio Gramsci, in Italy's fascism, could receive visits in prison.

— Flávio BolsonaroCriticizing the restrictions placed on his father, Jair Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro asserted that his family is forbidden from seeing their father, who remains censored, incommunicado, and unable to see his family. He controversially compared the situation to that of Antonio Gramsci during Italy's fascist regime. Flávio also labeled President Lula as a "dictator project," expressing confidence in removing him from office in October. Carlos Bolsonaro commented that his brother Flávio was sacrificing a comfortable life to run for president, putting himself at risk of not achieving victory.

Lula will not succeed because we will fire him in October this year.

— Flávio BolsonaroExpressing his political opposition to President Lula.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Folha de S.Paulo in Portuguese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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