Brazilian far-right President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that an Army officer who was convicted of torture during the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship was a “national hero.” Colonel Carlos Alberto Ustra, who died in 2015, headed the Army’s notorious DOI-CODI intelligence unit that was responsible for repressing leftist political opponents. During his 2008 trial, witnesses said he personally oversaw torture sessions. Brazil’s National Truth Commission recorded 45 deaths or disappearances during Ustra’s four years running the unit, as well as 502 cases of torture.
— source telesurenglish.net | 8 Aug 2019