Domestic violence? Renato Gaúcho defends deputy: “I am Bolsonaro”

Renato Gaúcho, successor of Portuguese coach Luís Castro in the technical command of Grêmio, took advantage, this Sunday, the press conference that followed the tie to a ball with the International in Porto Alegre, to leave in defense Alexandre Mendes, an element of his technical team, which was arrested last week following a case of alleged domestic violence.

“ We live in a country where the following happens... First he throws himself, and then they ask if he's innocent or guilty. There were journalists who massacred Alexandre Mendes. I'm all for arresting the guy who beats his wife. The day he does this, he will not work with me anymore, but it is the seventh time they accuse the type, and he is innocent ", started by affirming.

“ The press has to stop giving five minutes of fame to people who shouldn't. The next day the prosecutor himself cleared him, and some journalists went with a headquarters to convict him... Why didn't you have that thirst to clear him now? I should not say this, but this is why I am Bolsonaro”, he added, before getting up and leaving the room, under applause from some journalists.

The 64-year-old technician declared, in this way, the support to Flávio Bolsonaro in view of the second round of the elections for the presidency of Brazil, in which Jair Bolsonaro's son will have the current maximum leader of the country, Lula da Silva, after none of the two have obtained, in the first, more than 50% of the votes.

Understand the case involving Alexandre Mendes

The case involving Alexandre Mendes dates back to September 2024, when his then companion published, on social networks, an audio in which he asked for help, accompanied by photos and videos in which he had suffered bruising allegedly inflicted on him, which led the Civil Police to order the opening of an investigation for domestic violence.

The inquiry carried out by the Second Police Station Specialized in Women's Care in Porto Alegre was completed without the indictment of the 62-year-old coach, and the authorities reported that it was not proven that this would have been the author of the alleged assaults, since he himself had ensured that he would be travelling at the time.

A year later, Alexandre Mendes was the subject of a complaint by the Public Prosecutor for psychological violence against the complainant, with whom he had had a relationship for six years, and who accused him of drugging her using drugs and, at a certain point, kept her locked in an apartment in Rio de Janeiro for about nine hours.

The case continues under investigation, and the coach was imposed a protective measure that prevented him from approaching the alleged victim. Now, last Thursday, he himself was arrested on arrival at Salgado Filho Airport in Porto Alegre, on suspicion that he would have violated this measure of coercion, but 24 hours later, the preventive arrest was revoked.