Misleading: The video that went viral on TikTok is misleading and seeks to attribute to the federal government the construction of the railroad that connects Pará to Maranhão. The railroad and the passenger transport service on the stretch are the responsibility of Vale and have been in operation for 36 years. The images actually show President Jair Bolsonaro at the conclusion of the works on Stretch 1 of the White Line of the Grande Natal VLT – this work is indeed the responsibility of the federal government.
Investigated Content: Posts on Facebook and TikTok show a video in which President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) appears aboard a train and waves to the public. The posts claim that the recording was made on a train that connects the states of Pará and Maranhão.
where it was published: TikTok and Facebook
Completion of Proof: Video deceives by linking Jair Bolsonaro and the federal government to the creation of the passenger transport service on the rail line between Pará and Maranhão. Deceptive content has recently appeared on social media in different formats.
The video that illustrates the post shows the president inside a car of the Light Rail Vehicle in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte. The work belongs to the federal government. The railway between Pará and Maranhão, which also has a passenger transport service, has been in operation for 36 years by Vale.
For Comprova, content taken out of context in order to provoke a different interpretation of reality is misleading.
Scope of publication: Comprova checks the dubious contents that are most viral on social networks. On TikTok, the video reached 549 thousand views, 53 thousand likes and 3 thousand comments until April 11, 2022. On Facebook, the publications add up to 200 interactions.
What the author of the publication says: Comprova contacted the author of the post on Facebook, but received no response. Unable to trigger the TikTok profile as according to the platform, the account cannot receive messages “due to various violations of the Community Guidelines”. In the profile, pro-Bolsonaro content is shared.
How do we check: The analysis of the viral video brought a reference to the Cajupiranga neighborhood, in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte, in the electronic sign of the train. Then, searches for news in the press and on official federal government websites showed the opening event of the Cajupiranga station and the conclusion of the work on Section 1 of the Grande Natal tramway. Agência Brasil and the website of Companhia Brasileira de Trens Urbanos (CBTU) reflected the event, as well as the Metrópoles, G1, UOL portals, among others.
Video is from the conclusion of the VLT stretch works in Parnamirim/RN
The images that show President Jair Bolsonaro inside a train waving to the public were recorded in the city of Parnamirim, in Rio Grande do Norte (RN). The visit, on the morning of March 30, is on the agenda of the president, who participated, at the time, in the opening ceremony of the Cajupiranga Station, on the White Line of Companhia Brasileira de Trens Urbanos (CBTU).
The passenger transport system is in the VLT model. The modal in the Metropolitan Region of Natal is formed by the White and Purple lines. The works on the White Line began in February 2021. As for the Purple Line, in September 2021.
The event also marked the conclusion of the works on Section 1 of the White Line, which is also formed by sections 2 and 3. The system, including the White and Purple Lines, part of the Boa Esperança neighborhood, in Parnamirim, and continues to São Gonçalo do Amarante/RN, as shown by an excerpt from a document located on the website of the Ministry of Regional Development (MDR).
According to the document, the federal government is investing a total of R$ 83,142,096.71 in the works of the system, which is operated by CBTU.
“With the construction of the White and Purple lines, the rail network of Greater Natal will become the most extensive in the Northeast and the third largest in the country – behind only the Metropolitan Regions of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro”, says an excerpt from the document. .
Confirmation of image location
The confirmation of the president’s location on the train in Parnamirim, and not in the composition that goes from Pará to Maranhão, as the post says, was based on the analysis of other videos about the event available on YouTube. The images have the same characteristics as the one that appears in the TikTok post verified here.
TV Brasil report on the inauguration of the VLT station in Cajupiranga, shows the modal honking with the president inside, from 1’31. In this other video, the comparison between the images leaves no doubt. In 9’51, it is possible to see Bolsonaro inside the wagon waving to the population, alongside former Minister of Regional Development Rogério Marinho and a cameraman:
Opening event in Parnamirim cost R$ 550 thousand
The document found by Comprova on the MDR website, which appears above, is about hiring a company to hold the event “Inauguration of the Cajupiranga Station and completion of the expansion work of the first stretch of the White Line” on March 30, 2022.
The total amount is R$ 550 thousand. On page 3, the description of the service appears:
“Support in holding inauguration events for Federal Government deliveries. Event planning; Assembly of the structure; Realization of the event; Disassembly of the structure; Accountability”.
why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that has gone viral regarding the covid-19 pandemic, public policies of the federal government and presidential elections. Publications that extol the achievements of pre-candidates – in the case of Bolsonaro – and are based on misleading information can negatively influence the voter’s choice. Voting is the main instrument of popular participation in a democracy. The decision about the candidate must be made based on true and reliable information.
Other checks on the topic: The agencies Lupa and Aos Fatos checked the same content and the conclusion was the same as that of Comprova, that the video was made at the opening of the Cajupiranga station and not on the train that connects Pará to Maranhão. Recently, Comprova verified that the train line that connects Pará to Maranhão has existed for 36 years and is not the work of the Bolsonaro government, that the work of a bridge over the Rio das Mortes in Mato Grosso is the responsibility of the state and not of the government. federal government and that Iguaçu Park was created by Vargas, not Lula.
Investigated by imirante.com, Metrópoles and O Dia. Verified by Estadão, CBN, Plural Curitiba, SBT and SBT News.
Source: CNN Brasil
