Jair Bolsonaro faces the prospect of becoming known as the man who broke Brazil
Bolsonaro defiant at the epicentre of the pandemic
ON A warm evening in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, held his head high and stared into the camera to address an expectant nation.
Coronavirus deaths had just ticked slowly up to 57 as millions tuned in to hear the government’s plans to combat the pandemic beginning to wreak havoc in Europe and the US.
What they got was a potent mix of denial and hostility. The president decried the “hysteria” of the press for spreading fear, dismissing the virus as a “little flu”. The man who came within a whisker of death just two years ago after he was stabbed on the campaign trail mustered a smirk as he claimed he would be immune from any of the disease’s severe symptoms due to his “past as an athlete”.
Two months and 340,000 official cases later, the so-called little flu has claimed the lives of at least 20,000 Brazilians, and probably many more. Over the past few days, the daily death toll has topped 1,000, putting the country among the worst-hit countries.
Brazil is the new centre of the global pandemic, recording higher daily averages than anywhere else in the world. Bodies line up to be buried in rich-red earth mass graves under heavy skies. Hospitals are at breaking point.
But the headache doesn’t end there for Mr Bolsonaro (65), a hard-right former army captain catapulted to power on a populist anti-corruption drive that gained him the nickname “Trump of the Tropics”.
A video was released at the weekend of a foul-mouthed rant at Mr Bolsonaro’s cabinet. He is heard demanding a clear-out of justice officials investigating his sons for alleged links to hit squads and fake news rackets. The scandal could lead to impeachment.
Under threat of political implosion and a deadly virus out of control, Mr Bolsonaro now faces the prospect of becoming known as the man who broke Brazil.
His Covid-19 strategy is without precedent. While other global leaders may be guilty of playing down the virus and poor decisions, he has doubled down on his message of denial. Government insiders tell of growing discord in and around the Bolsonaro administration. They paint a picture of a jealous and vindictive leader at the helm of a nation in crisis.
One high-profile former cabinet member said several efforts were made within the government to establish a comprehensive social isolation policy to contain the spread, but Mr Bolsonaro never showed any interest: “The president always dismissed the importance of discussions about the coronavirus.”
Mr Bolsonaro has sacked two health ministers in the space of one month. Luiz Henrique Mandetta and Nelson Teich, both qualified medical professionals, were ousted after disagreeing with Mr Bolsonaro over social isolation measures and the prescription of anti-malaria drug chloroquine to treat Covid-19. Leadership of Brazil’s health ministry has been vacant for over a week.
“It’s really difficult to work under a boss like Jair Bolsonaro,” says Senator Sergio Olimpio Gomes, a former close ally of Mr Bolsonaro, better known as Major Olimpio. “The only people who last under him are submissive. If anyone disagrees with him, he starts treating them as traitors.”
Major Olimpio campaigned alongside Mr Bolsonaro in the run-up to the 2018 election campaign and worked closely with him in the first year of government. But he has since fallen out with one of Mr Bolsonaro’s sons. He said the president was jealous of ex-health minister Mandetta. “Bolsonaro can’t handle anyone around him stealing his thunder”, he explains.
“He’s a great leader of the masses,” says Major Olimpio. “But he’s never had in-depth knowledge in any area.”
With the president at war with state governors and the WHO over social distancing and lockdown measures, the virus has spread from the apartments of Brazil’s jet-setting elite to deep into the Amazon. Jungle cities like Manaus are buckling under the pressure of spiralling death tolls and infections, while even remote indigenous tribes are recording fatalities.
The virus is also claiming lives in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, while the hospitals in Sao Paulo are now “near collapse”, according to the mayor of the sprawling metropolis. (© Daily Telegraph, London)