The Brazil's army[/B] was in the midst of a war yesterday Monday, after it was revealed that 35.000 Viagra pills[/B] for its members, which sparked indignant reactions, while sarcastic comments from users of social networking sites gave and took.
"Hospitals have no medicines, but (far-right Brazilian President Jaix) Bolsonaro and his clique are squandering public money to buy little blue pills," centre-left MP Elias Vass lamented, adding that he demanded an explanation from the defence ministry for this "immoral" order.
The MP said he consulted the government's transparency website, which allows citizens to retrieve public data on state spending whenever they wish.
As he explained, the documents he accessed do not mention the Viagra preparation by name; but they confirm that expenditure was indeed approved for the purchase of tens of thousands of "sildenafil pills" - i.e. with the active substance of the world-famous pill (from the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer) for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension.
The Ministry of Defence assured in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse that "the supply of sildenafil" was intended "to treat patients with pulmonary hypertension."
Dita-Dura
The Ministry's explanation did not prevent users of social networking sites from indulging in comments with heavy doses of sarcasm. Some referred to "dita-dura", an untranslated pun on the dictatorship of the generals in Brazil (1964-1985) and the influence of Viagra. "With these pills, the military will be able to g****** democracy even harder," the satirical website Sensacionalista hyped. While humorous cartoons depicting tanks with the cannons... down.
[BR]
Left-wing MP Marcelo Freisou took the issue more seriously, pointing out that the government of far-right President Bolsonaro approved this expenditure while the head of state vetoed in principle a draft law "that provided for free sanitary napkins to be distributed to the poorest Brazilians." The president eventually backed down, signing that bill last month.
Source: ARP, AFP
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