Alleged torturer says Brazil president once wanted to install communist regime
BRASILIA, Brazil – One of the directors of Brazil's political repression agency during the country's long dictatorship says President Dilma Rousseff once wanted to install a communist regime in Latin America's biggest nation.
Retired army Col. Carlos Ustra spoke Friday during a session of the truth commission investigating human rights abuses during this country's 1964-1985 military regime.
He said Rousseff "was part of four terrorist organizations that wanted to introduce communism in Brazil." And he added, "If it weren't for us ... you would be living in a communist regime just like Fidel Castro's." The president's office had no immediate comment.
Rousseff is a former leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured during the dictatorship.
Ustra denied allegations that he tortured or ordered the torture of political opponents of the regime.