‘SOAP OPERA’

Pennsylvania Fugitive Quickly Became a ‘Cult Hero’ in Latin America: Report

Countless TikTok videos and memes documenting Danelo Cavalcante’s escape have gone viral across the region.

Danelo Cavalcante’s battle with U.S. law enforcement has fascinated communities across Latin America, a new report from The Washington Post suggests, many of which despise the U.S. after decades of meddling in the region’s political and economic affairs. A number of people the newspaper interviewed across several countries said they were able to separate Cavalcante’s crimes—he was sentenced to life in prison last month after stabbing ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao to death—and his newfound status as a “cult hero” for sticking a thorn in the side of U.S. authorities. “I like to see Americans in bad shape,” one man in Cavalcante’s native Brazil told the Post. “It has the fun of a soap opera,” another said of the saga. The intrigue is apparent in countless memes, viral TikTok videos and explainers of how the fugitive made his escape—all of which have been voraciously consumed as people followed his daily exploits on the lam. Cavalcante was ultimately captured Wednesday morning by Pennsylvania authorities.