Rightwing radical was a towering figure in Brazil who was adored and abhorred in equal measure by millions of followers and foes
Summary
- Olavo de Carvalho, the coronavirus-denying mentor of Jair Bolsonaro and Brazil’s radical right, has died in the United States, with one of his children citing Covid-19 as the cause.
- The statement did not say how Carvalho – a former astrologer who repeatedly trivialized Covid as the “moronavirus” – had died.
- “Olavo was a … beacon for millions of Brazilians,” Brazil’s ultraconservative president claimed.
- “Does the moronavirus really kill people or does he just help them become statistics?” he wondered last January as Brazil’s death toll rose to over 200,000.
- Felipe Neto, one of Brazil’s top online influencers, tweeted: “The far right will now try to turn Olavo de Carvalho into a martyr, a hero.