Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro used his invitation to the Queen’s funeral to visit a west London petrol station and see the petrol prices – double those of several Brazilian states. Bolsonaro, who is running for re-election, made the comparison in a lo-fi video in the forecourt of the Bayswater Shell ahead of the Queen’s funeral on Monday. In a video he shared on social media, he boasts to the camera: “I’m here in London, England and the price of fuel is £1.61. This is about R$9.70 practically double the average of many Brazilian states. Our gasoline is, in fact, one of the cheapest in the world.” Fans on social media complained that it was not a fair comparison, as Brazil’s minimum wage is several times lower than Britain’s.
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Allies hope Bolsonaro’s four-day trip to the UK will sway some voters and give him an image of gravitas after nearly four years of rifts with other world leaders — while providing material for TV ads. Bolsonaro trails former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the polls, with the other candidates far behind. Leftist da Silva, who ruled from 2003 to 2010, hopes to win 50 percent of the vote on Oct. 2 and avoid a runoff against the incumbent. Hundreds of protesters clashed with Bolsonaro supporters outside the Brazilian embassy in London over the weekend. Speaking to about 200 supporters gathered outside, Bolsonaro insisted the polls were wrong — and that he could win outright in the first round. “Our flag will always be in these colors — green and yellow. Our motto is God, nation, family and freedom,” the right-wing leader said from the embassy balcony. “We are a country that does not want the liberation of drugs, that does not want to talk about the legalization of abortion and that does not accept the ‘gender ideology.’ Bolsonaro declared three days of national mourning in Brazil following the death of Britain’s 96-year-old monarch, and the funeral will be Bolsonaro’s first official visit to the UK. He met the new monarch, King Charles III, during a trip to Japan in 2019. At least some Brazilians criticized the use of funeral travel for politicization. “It’s an absolute shame for Brazil,” lawmaker Joice Hasselmann, a former supporter of Bolsonaro, said on her social media channels. “He turned the Queen’s funeral into a rally.”
