Brazil leader downplays coronavirus
Bolsonaro calls covid-19 ‘a little flu,’ says containment measures are unnecessary
RIO DE JANEIRO — Even as coronavirus cases mount in Latin America’s largest nation, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is calling the pandemic a momentary, minor problem and saying strong measures to contain it are unnecessary.
The Brazilian leader has labeled the virus as “a little flu” and said state governors’ aggressive measures to halt the disease were crimes.
On Thursday, Bolsonaro told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, that he feels Brazilians’ natural immunity will protect the nation.
“The Brazilian needs to be studied. He doesn’t catch anything. You see a guy jumping into sewage, diving in, right? Nothing happens to him. I think a lot of people were already infected in Brazil, weeks or months ago, and they already have the antibodies that help it not proliferate,” Bolsonaro said. “I’m hopeful that’s really a reality.”
A video titled “Brazil Cannot Stop” that circulated on social media drew a rebuke from Monica de Bolle, a Brazilian senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“Do you know what will happen, Bolsonaro? Brazil WILL stop. Your irresponsibility will bring thousands to avoidable deaths,” she tweeted Friday. “The destroyed lungs of these people, as well as the organs of those who won’t be able to have medical care, will fall on your lap. And Brazil will not spare you.”
Bolsonaro, 65, shows no sign of wavering even as the nation’s tally of confirmed covid-19 cases surpasses 3,400, deaths top 90 and Brazilians overwhelmingly demand tough anti-virus measures. Pollster Datafolha this month found 73% of people supported total isolation, and 54% approved of governors’ management of the crisis. Bolsonaro’s backing was just 33%.
“If things go really poorly from an economic point of view, he can point his finger at the governors,” Christopher Garman, managing director for the Americas at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said by phone. “What he isn’t calculating is the public opinion hit that he can take for being seen to have not handled well the public health crisis.”
The governors of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the states hardest hit by the virus, have banned public gatherings, closed schools and businesses and called for strict social distancing. Both are Bolsonaro critics and possible contenders in the 2022 presidential race. They also have backup: 25 of Brazil’s 27 governors signed a joint letter this week begging Bolsonaro to back strict anti-virus measures.
Bolsonaro said he has watched his U.S. counterpart, President Donald Trump, speak about the virus in recent days and found their perspectives rather aligned. Like Trump, he has sought to ease anxiety by often touting the yet-unproven benefits of chloroquine in combating the virus. On Thursday, he eliminated tariffs for the anti-malaria drug.
Local media have counted some two dozen people who tested positive for covid-19 after traveling with Bolsonaro this month to the U.S. That includes his national security adviser, who last week returned to work at the presidential palace. Bolsonaro says his two tests for the virus came back negative, but he has refused to publish his results.
As covid-19 started to spread in mid-March, he issued a lukewarm call for postponement of pro-government demonstrations, then celebrated the rallies and shook supporters’ hands. For a few days, he and his ministers wore masks, but they removed them when speaking. Asked Monday why they had dispensed with their masks, officials exchanged sidelong glances for a full 15 seconds before a moderator broke the silence to call for the next question.
He has flouted the international consensus on coronavirus even as Trump has moved toward World Health Organization recommendations for isolation. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spent weeks dismissing the coronavirus threat but on Thursday closed government for all but essential work and urged Mexicans to remain indoors.
Bolsonaro’s fate will depend largely on the damage wrought by the disease, according to Thiago de Aragao, director of strategy at political risk consultancy Arko Advice.
If deaths are relatively low and the economy crippled, “public opinion could side with him,” de Aragao said. “If the final outcome is 50,000 deaths and trucks carrying coffins, like in Italy, it will be tremendously negative for the president.”