"Out of Bolsonaro", Brazilians scream from the balconies
- The response of the president of the Brazilian extreme right to the pandemic that affects the whole world has enraged citizens. The president said that this is a "media invention", in reference to Catalonia. The quarantine prevents the neighbors from taking to the streets, but even from the balconies they have raised their voice.
Every day, at 20:30 pm, several Brazilian buildings are affected by protests against Jair Bolsonaro. In fact, the president has stated that coronavirus is a matter invented by the media and although doctors recommended staying at home, he participated in a demonstration in his favor, causing large crowds of people.
The screams and sauces are to denounce the bad response to the coronavirus crisis. But not only that, says Mauro Ventura at The Guardian. According to the 56-year-old writer, “the most serious thing is the coronavirus… But there is something bigger and deeper, its way of governing.”
Winds of change
Some have claimed that these protests have spread throughout the country, where arrests have taken place. Also in the wealthy neighborhoods that voted for Bolsonaro in the elections. An example of this is the Leblon district of Rio de Janeiro, which belongs to the farmers of the city. “I’ve been surprised to hear so much noise and I don’t think Bolsonaro would expect it too,” says Wilma Dutra de Oliveira, a local language teacher and neighbor.
Several experts agree on Oliveira’s analysis and question whether Bolsonaro wins the elections again. “Middle and upper classes have woken up,” says retired sociologist Janette Bessa Neves.
Cabezudo
Bolsonaro keeps yours. It continues to downplay the coronavirus, indicating that it is a “flu” and that there is no reason to isolate people. “The virus arrived and will leave soon,” he said in a statement broadcast on television and radio. He says that life and workplaces must go ahead, that the income of families must be maintained.
The governors of several states of the country have declared isolation, and the president has criticized the governors of Sao Paulo, among others. “You don’t have to close schools,” says the president, arguing that most patients are over 60 years old. He has stated that his government is taking action, “without the hysteria and panic that some media are spreading,” and that they are demonstrating the effectiveness of chloroquine.
At the moment there are 46 deaths and 2,201 infections in the country and in the last 24 hours the percentage of victims has increased by 35%.
