November 26, 2021

09:11

Victória Sales – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Allies of the candidate for Coari City Hall (363 kilometers from Manaus), Keitton Pinheiro (Progressive), used a suspected assault against a man, identified as the representative of the movement LGBTQIA +, Marcos Peres, for “electoral promotion” candidate. The victim was shot by a group that arrived announcing the robbery during a Pinheiro rally that was taking place in the city on Wednesday night. Keitton, then, took advantage of the moment to promote himself and leverage in the polls to get the job, according to his own allies.

A publication of the page Movement Coari, on social networks, points out that Keitton Pinheiro would have used the situation of the young man shot in his favor. “Guys, using a police occurrence that should be investigated by the authorities to try to put the blame on the political opponent was the lowest thing I’ve seen in this campaign. Is it desperation or mean-spiritedness?” one of the posts reads.

In a video, one of the witnesses cites that the case is about a suspected robbery. “It was a robbery. Marcos Perez had his cell phone in his hands, so much so that it was with a homemade gun. The suspects still went towards other people, but since Marcos was holding the cell phone and tried to react, he ended up shot”, said one of the witnesses who preferred not to be identified through a video on social networks.

Read more: Action Keitton Pinheiro prevents delivery of AM Government benefits in Coari; population revolts

Another witness, who also preferred not to be identified, noted that the crime may have been motivated after Marcos reacted to the assault. “He was in front of us when the suspect announced the robbery and took the cell phone from Marcos’ hand, until he ran and the suspect shot”, says the witness.

LGBTQIA+ Movement speaks out

According to the teacher and activist of the LGBTQIA+ movement, Gabriel Mota, the victim took a risk by “walking beside” a candidate with no proposals that bring benefits to the community. “Marcos took a risk. Coari is a Wild West. Walking next to a group that has never been on our side is, to say the least, dangerous. I don’t know of any work to support the movement. In the end, the candidate will use this agenda in his own favor”, he told CENARIUM.

“In the countryside, this can still be used as homophobia. In the countryside, there is a lot of LGBTphobia, because when we are restricted from access to health, education, and other services, we are suffering from LGBTphobia”, continued Mota.

In the city, the event is treated as a suspected robbery. The Mobile Emergency Care Service and the police were called immediately after the whole event. And after the case, supporters reported that Keitton even increased the difference in voting intentions to the second place.

Marcos Peres was taken to the Regional Hospital of Coari, had surgery, and, according to the medical bulletin, the boy is doing well, is under observation and is not at risk of death. Until the publication of this article, there was still no proof of who committed the crime, which is being investigated by the Civil Police.

Delivery of benefits

Last Saturday, 20, hundreds of residents of the city had to return to their homes “empty-handed”. The population waited for hours to receive benefits provided by programs of the Government of Amazonas, and after a lawsuit filed by the candidate for mayor of the city, Keitton Pinheiro, against the social actions, the population was prevented from receiving the benefits.

One of the main allies of former mayors Adail Pinheiro and Adail Filho, Keitton sought the Electoral Justice to prevent the work done by the state government. According to the candidate, he feels electorally harmed with the distribution of benefits. The supplementary elections in the city are scheduled to take place on December 5.

Electoral promotion

The case recalls the “electoral promotion” that had President Jair Bolsonaro (no party), from September 6, 2018, when the then presidential candidate was stabbed during a campaign event in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. The perpetrator was Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, who was arrested. Bolsonaro underwent surgery and had to wear a colostomy bag.

According to the InfoMoney website, Bolsonaro was not the preferred candidate of the market, which was more sympathetic to Geraldo Alckmin of the PSDB. But Alckmin was losing ground in the polls and Bolsonaro appeared as an option to prevent the left from coming to power.

“The fact that he didn’t participate in the debates because of the attack and let Paulo Guedes speak in his place, that helped him win the election”, said analyst and economist Louise Barsi. “We took the opportunity to accelerate a trade to buy Taurus Armas shares”, she added.