Elderly couple burns books in fireplace in protest

Much-loved author Paulo Coelho has poked fun at people in Brazil who are buying his books in order to burn them after he criticised the country and joined a protest movement criticising right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro.Coelho, 73, best known for his international bestseller ‘’The Alchemist’, called for the boycott of Brazilian products in protest at President Bolsonaro’s handling of the wildfires in the Amazon and Pantanal natural region.He wrote on social media: “Boycott Brazilian exports or the Christian Taliban will control the country.”Although the Brazilian novelist later deleted the post, netizens continued to criticise his stance.A video of an elderly couple burning one of Coelho’s books has been widely shared on social media.In the footage, the couple is seen ripping up pages from the book and placing them on a furnace while referring to the author, whose works have been translated into 81 languages, as a “Communist from hell”.