President Jair Bolsonaro denied this Monday (10) having accused the director-president of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), Antonio Barra Torres, of corruption.
“I was surprised by his letter. Aggressive letter, there was no reason for that. I told you what was behind what Anvisa has been doing. I didn’t accuse anyone of corruption. For now, I have nothing to do about it. there,” he said in an interview with Jovem Pan radio, broadcast on the president’s social networks.
Next, Bolsonaro evaluated the work of the agency and commented on the appointment of Barra Torres to the position, at the beginning of the government.
“I think that Anvisa, I believe that the work could be different. I nominated him there. After the nomination, he gained his own light. I hope he gets it right at Anvisa. But we didn’t have any friction to the point that he spoke that I had to point out any evidence of corruption,” he added.
On Saturday (8), Barra Torres released a statement in which it denies the existence of hidden interests behind the approval of the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years against covid-19. In the text, he asks President Jair Bolsonaro to retract his speech related to the subject.
The letter was a response to Jair Bolsonaro, who, during a radio interview last week, questioned Anvisa’s interest in approving the Pfizer vaccine against covid-19 for children in this age group. “What is Anvisa’s interest behind that?”, he asked.
In the note, Barra Torres said that if the president has information that indicates corruption, he should order a police investigation. “Now, if you don’t have such information or evidence, exercise the greatness that your position demands and, by the God you quote so much, retract. We are fighting the same enemy and there is still a lot of war ahead. Reviewing a wrong speech or act will not diminish you in any way. Quite the contrary”, wrote the director-president of Anvisa.
