São Paulo’s teetotal governor, Tarcísio de Freitas, has been forced to apologise after responding to a deadly methanol poisoning crisis by joking that he would only start worrying when bootleggers began making fake Coca-Cola.
Freitas, a close ally of the former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, made the comment during a press conference about his response to an alcohol contamination scandal focused on his state that has killed at least three people. The victims include a 30-year-old mother who died after drinking a vodka and fruit juice cocktail at a party.
