EXCLUSIVE – ‘He was always anti-science and never liked being Brazilian or the Brazilian people’, declares Olavo de Carvalho’s daughter

Priscilla Peixoto – from Cenarium* Magazine

MANAUS – “Olavo’s denialism was not new (…) he never liked Brazil, or being Brazilian, or the Brazilian people. He didn’t have this pride”, declares Heloísa de Carvalho, 52 years old, the oldest of Olavo de Carvalho’s eight children, who died at 74 years old on Tuesday, 25, in Richmond, in the US state of Virginia.

In an exclusive interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE, the law graduate and Olavo’s first child said she believes that his death was due to complications caused by Covid-19, a disease that he denied the existence of. The well-known “guru” of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and marketer of the president’s election in 2018 was diagnosed with the virus on January 15 of this year.

“I believe that the motive would have been Covid and the facts lead to that. January 1 he was already talking about a medical care and I thought it was strange, by the 5th he disappeared from the networks. I believe that he was already with Covid, without a test or anything, he started having complications and ended up in the hospital, got a confirmed diagnosis and ended up in the ICU because of the complications and did not get out of this hospitalization”, says Heloísa.

Faithful denialist

Heloísa points out that her father did not follow the safety standards and guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and that he had not been vaccinated against Covid-19. According to his daughter, the father did not believe in the virus and all its lethal potential.

“He didn’t do isolation, he didn’t wear a mask, he didn’t comply with any health safety measures. He really was a faithful denialist who talked that the pandemic didn’t exist, that the virus didn’t exist, and that nobody died from Covid-19. But of course my relatives and close friends will deny it. Even the Carvalho family doctor, whom I have known very well since the 1980s, has already appeared, stating that he did not die from Covid and citing medical reports from the American hospital, but it doesn’t show. The person doesn’t have to lie, but they can omit information”, she declares.

Among the memories and sequels that refer to her father’s denialism, Heloísa reveals that she was not vaccinated against measles as a child and consequently has a mild degree of deafness, and recalls that both she and her siblings suffered as victims of the disease.

“My father didn’t vaccinate us against measles, I got measles along with my brothers. Because of the complications from the measles I got a hearing impairment. It’s subtle, but I got it. Two of my brothers also almost died and were even disillusioned by the doctors, but they managed to save themselves. So, Olavo’s denialism is not a recent thing and it’s complicated because he put children’s lives at risk, just like he did during the pandemic with all his anti-hand sanitizer, anti-mask and anti-isolation speeches”, Heloísa points out.

Bolsonaro Government

Although he has made recent criticisms of Jair Bolsonaro’s government, the ‘icon’ of conservatives was known to be close to the president’s family. According to Heloísa de Carvalho, the connection between her father was, in fact, with Bolsonaro’s sons, Flávio and Eduardo – the latter, a faithful squire of Olavo’s. She points out that even the criticism and an apparent breakup between Olavo and the Bolsonaro family was nothing but ‘strategy’.

“What I know is that he was never really close to Bolsonaro, the link was his children. Flávio took a package for him in the US, I believe in 2012, and Eduardo was a loyal ‘olavete’ [as Olavo’s followers are known]. A short time ago Olavo was bad-mouthing and attacking Bolsonaro and Eduardo was speaking well of him on the social networks. So for those who think there was a breakup, there wasn’t and this is all modus operandi. Olavo used the ‘bite and blow’ tactic, every time he did that, he disappeared, something happened there, which I don’t know, but obviously I imagine”, she reveals without saying exactly what she suspects.

Opposite side

During the interview, Heloísa is keen to point out that, unlike her father, she believes in the efficiency of science and has always clashed with her father’s openly negative positions. The law graduate recalls having been one of the people who most sought to offer a counterpoint to her father’s statements, especially when the subject was Covid-19.

“I was never an ‘olavete’ and a fan of my father. I was not his propagandist and you can visit my social networks, the few praises I have given him are from 2007, 2010. I have a few pictures of him, and just before I broke up with him, I saw a few things about his movie, but nothing relevant. I was never in tune with his agendas, when we diverged on the issues he would turn his back and leave me talking to myself because he didn’t want to hear me”, she recalls.

Revolt and appeal

Contrary to what was preached by her father in life, Heloísa appeals to those who still resist the vaccine to become aware, take the vaccine, and obey the already known guidelines to avoid contamination. In social isolation, she regrets having lost her best friend on the same day her father declared that there was no death by Covid-19 in the country.

“I lost a great friend because her bosses didn’t release her from work to isolate herself and she had to take the bus every day exposing herself to the virus. She was already a widow and died leaving three children under the age of ten orphaned. My best friend left just on the day that Olavo said that there was no death from Covid”, said Olavo’s daughter.

She added that on the day her friend died, she was angry with her father, “I was losing a great and dear person, a hardworking, poor friend who left orphaned children and him saying that and various other things and posts he made during this pandemic that made me sad and very angry. Don’t pay to see, be careful”, warned Heloísa.

(*) With the collaboration of Rômulo D’Castro, correspondent of CENARIUM MAGAZINE in Pará