Viagra, inflatable penises and more: the controversial expenses of the Brazilian Army during Bolsonaro’s government

The expenses of the Brazilian Army became viral and not precisely because of the budget allocated to the acquisition of weapons. Added to the news that the military bought 35,000 Viagra tablets, used for erectile dysfunction, and remedies for baldness, there are now 60 inflatable silicone penile prostheses that cost $750,000.

The information was revealed by the center-left deputy Elias Vaz, but the data can be obtained from the Government Transparency Portal and the Federal Government’s Price Panel, reports RT.

According to the documents, the prostheses are between 10 and 25 centimeters long and each cost between 11,000 and 13,000 dollars. The products, also used for cases of erectile dysfunction, were delivered to military hospitals in São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul.

«Penis prosthesis for the Government. Bolsonaro and his gang continue to mock Brazilians. After the viagra controversy, I denounced the shameful purchase processes of 60 penile prostheses by the Army for 3.5 million reais”, wrote Vaz, of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), on Twitter.

The Army Responds

The deputy asked the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Accounts of the Union to investigate these possible irregularities and asked Congress to open a Parliamentary Investigative Commission.

«The Brazilian people suffer to get medicines in health units and a group is treated with very expensive prostheses», criticized Vaz.

In a statement – collected by the press – the Army reported that it acquired three prostheses in 2021 intended for «surgeries for beneficiaries of the Army Health Fund», but not 60 as published in some media.

According to the military, the bidding processes complied with all current legal requirements and medical recommendations. It was also recalled that the responsibility of the Army Health System – in charge of some 700,000 people – is to care for “male patients who are victims of various types of diseases that may require surgery to implant the aforementioned prosthesis”.

This Wednesday, President Jair Bolsonaro addressed the controversy during a breakfast with ministers, parliamentarians and pastors at the Alvorada Palace, his official residence.

«The Armed Forces buy Viagra to combat high blood pressure and also rheumatological diseases», said the president.

The president stressed that the number of pills that were bought «is nothing» when compared to all the troops of the Armed Forces, which have some 350,000 active soldiers and more than a million as reserve units.

Bolsonaro stressed that the drugs are «much more used, obviously, by inactive personnel and pensioners» of the Army.

Viagra on the social networks

In social networks, the news generated a multitude of criticism and memes. «Penis prosthesis, the new imported weapon of war for the Armed Forces», wrote one person.

«Viagra, penile prostheses… waiting for the next thing. Will they be vibrators?”, asked another user.

There were also jokes about the color of the tablets and the phrase: «Our pill will never be red» went viral. Red is the flagship color of the Workers’ Party (PT), led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

«Excuse the repetition, but how many master’s and doctoral scholarships could have been financed with public money that is being spent on viagra, penile prostheses and medicine for shameless uniformed baldness that threatens democracy?» asked another person.

«If you are 18 years old and have sterile dysfunction, enlist», reads a poster.

It is not the first time that the Army has been involved in a controversy of this type. Last year it was made public that the government spent millions of reais buying condensed milk and $440,000 in chewing gum for the Armed Forces.

«When I see that the press attacks me, saying that I bought two and a half million cans of condensed milk (…) go with the whore who gave birth to them, shitty press», Bolsonaro answered after the criticism he received.