During the event, Bolsonaro said the region was “really important” to Brazil.
“We count on Elon Musk so that the Amazon is known by everyone in Brazil and in the world, to show the exuberance of this region, how we are preserving it, and how much harm those who spread lies about this region are doing to us,” he said.
Bolsonaro and Musk appeared in a video transmitted live on the president’s Facebook account, standing together on a stage and answering questions from a group of students.
“A lot can be done to improve quality of life through technology,” Musk told the crowd.
Although none of the students asked about Musk’s prospective purchase of Twitter, Bolsonaro said that it represented a “breath of hope.”
“Freedom is the cement for the future,” he said, calling the billionaire a “legend of freedom.”
Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion, but said this week
the deal can’t go forward until the company provides information about how many accounts on the platform are spam or bots.
Like Musk, Bolsonaro has sought to position himself as a champion of free speech and opposed the deplatforming of individuals including his ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The meeting with Bolsonaro occurs just five months before the far-right leader will seek a second term in a hotly anticipated election.
