Brazil's Trump Wannabe Sparking Furor Over Coronavirus Response

Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro seems to be taking a page from the Trump playbook on how to screw up his country's response to the coronavirus  Things started to go south late last month when top Brazilian politicians from across the political spectrum warned that the controversial Brazilian president was putting thousands of lives at risk with what they called his reckless, paranoid, anti-scientific and belligerent response to the coronavirus.

Bolsonaro sparked fury with an extraordinary address to the nation in which he belittled the quarantine measures and travel restrictions being implemented by many Brazilian state governors and urged Brazilians to return to work and schools – in contradiction of his own health ministry’s counsel.
The comments stunned state governors – many of whom openly revolted against the president.
“I was gobsmacked,” said Ronaldo Caiado, the rightwing governor of Goiás state and a former Bolsonaro ally.  “It’s appalling. You cannot govern a country like this,” added Caiado, who this week severed ties with Bolsonaro. “At a moment like this he should have the humility to leave things to those who understand them.”

In an open letter to Bolsonaro, the rebel governors signaled they would ignore his calls to scale back their lockdowns.  In a second letter, the governors of Brazil’s nine north-eastern states declared: “Attacks and quarrels will not save the country.”

Bolsonaro rejects such criticism as the work of political rivals jostling to succeed him in 2022. This week he claimed governors and mayors forcing businesses to close were committing “a crime” and risked mass unemployment. “They’re destroying Brazil,” Bolsonaro claimed.

A few weeks alter, Bolsonaro sparked further protests and anger by sacking his popular health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, after the two clashed over Bolsonaro’s highly controversial response to the coronavirus pandemic.   Mandetta’s sacking has been anticipated for weeks, as Bolsonaro repeatedly downplayed coronavirus and urged the relaxation of social distancing measures while Mandetta defended such policies.

Speaking shortly after Mandetta’s exit was announced, Bolsonaro claimed the separation had been “a consensual divorce” – but signaled dissatisfaction with his former minister’s position on the economic impact of coronavirus.

“I know … life is priceless. But the economy and jobs must return to normal,” Bolsonaro said, as he introduced his new health minister, Nelson Teich, an oncologist who was CEO of a group of private clinics and is now a partner in a medical service consulting outfit.

When news of the sacking broke, shouts of “Bolsonaro murderer!” were heard in central Rio de Janeiro and pan-bashing protests erupted in cities across the country.  “It absurd to change the health minister in the middle of a pandemic,” said one Rio de Janeiro intensive care doctor, speaking anonymously for fear of repercussions.  Experts believe that the apex of coronavirus cases in Brazil is still weeks away and that further weakening on the country's response could result in a sharp increase in deaths.

Political commentator Leandro Colon said Mandetta’s sacking might be good news “for those rooting for Jair Bolsonaro’s quick downfall”.  Such a move would further isolate the rightwing populist and could provoke “a political reaction of major proportions”, Colon wrote in the Folha de São Paulo newspaper.