Marco Aurélio Garcia Obscene Gesture - Yes, He Was Rude, Offensive and Disrespectful

Filed in archive Latin News on July 24, 2007

A video featuring president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's special advisor, Marco Aurélio Garcia, making obscene gestures is on the Internet, in YouTube . The video shows Garcias' reaction to a news announcement that pointed to problems with the braking system of the A320 airplane.

When Garcia - the foreign policy advisor to the president - saw the news (last Thursday's night), he made for three times the gesture that means "f*ck you" or "you're f*cked". The video was broadcasted by the "Jornal da Globo".

Watch the video:



Link to the video

When asked about the gestures, Marco Aurélio Garcia denied his reaction. When informed that he was caught on video, he asked for "some time". Later, he sent a note, apologizing... well, kinda, sorta apologizing; he gave the lamest possible excuses, and left the apology for the last line of the note. Look at what he said:

"My reaction, absolutely personal, to the information from the "Jornal Nacional" about evidence of potential mechanical failure in the TAM airplane accident, shown in successive TV news reports and reproduced in newspapers, does not express "satisfaction", "relief" nor "happiness". "What I felt when I saw the report was basically outrage", affirmed Garcia.

After explaining that the gesture was made "in private", Garcia said "To those who, even so, felt offended by my attitude, I apologize".

Not exactly in private, since he was standing in front of an open window. Besides, so what if he made the gesture because he thought nobody was seeing him? It's ok to be a SOB when nobody is looking?

And, outrage my A$$! This gesture means what it means; and it's not outrage, indignation nor anything remotely related with those feelings. Any Brazilian will tell you that this gesture means "You've got f*cked", and that is as offensive as "the finger".

Maybe it's a little difficult to a foreigner to see this, but Garcia WAS rude, offensive and disrespectful. Marco Aurélio Garcia was mocking the people who said the government was to blame for the accident, and probably mocking the people who own TAM airlines. He was happy because he thought the Government was out of the line of fire.

Now, the government isn't the only one responsible for this tragedy; but it sure is a guilty part, along with TAM airlines, Infraero, ANAC (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil) and the administration of the Congonhas airport.

Source (Portuguese): Folha