Brazil Elections

Brazil prosecutors seek $1.32 billion in fines from dozens accused of crimes
A task force of Brazilian public prosecutors said on Friday it is seeking to fine over a dozen people 5.3 billion reais ($1.3 billion) on accusations of fraud, money laundering and corruption involving an investment fund linked to prominent businessman Joesley Batista.

Son of founder of Brazil's Banco Safra leaves board; bank changes CEO

FILE PHOTO: A man walks in front of the Banco Safra SA headquarter in Sao Paulo March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker
Alberto Safra, one of the sons of Lebanese-Brazilian billionaire banker Joseph Safra, has left Banco Safra SA's board of directors to work on another family project, the Brazilian lender said in a statement on Monday.

Banco Safra also said in its statement that Chief Executive Officer Rossano Maranhao had left the bank. Late on Monday, the bank said Alberto Corsetti, a longtime Safra executive, would replace Maranhao.

Local newspapers Valor Economico and O Estado de S. Paulo reported that Alberto Safra left the bank after a disagreement with his brother David Safra. Both were on Safra’s board directors, with responsibility for the wholesale and retail businesses, respectively.

The siblings had been arguing about who would oversee a digital wallet system that would mark the family’s first foray into retail banking.

In August, Alberto Safra said in an interview with Brazilian financial daily Valor that Banco Safra was hoping to secure a leading position in the retail business. With 172.2 billion reais ($43.24 billion) in total assets, Safra is the country’s seventh largest lender.

Joseph Safra, who founded Banco Safra, is the world’s richest banker with a fortune valued at $25.2 billion by Forbes Magazine. He has another son, Jacob Safra, who oversees the family’s businesses outside Brazil. His daughter Esther does not work for the financial group.

Brazil's Bolsonaro criticized over plans to attend Copa final
FILE PHOTO: China's President Xi Jinping revives a gift from Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro at the end of the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 25, 2019. Yukie Nishizawa/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, an admirer of Latin America's military dictatorships, courted controversy on Friday when he said he might go to next month's Copa Libertadores final in the Chilean stadium once used as a detention center.
 
Investigations continue into Bolsonaro's Son's and their activities. These investigations have been on-going since after Bolsonaro got elected. I haven't been able to determine - if there's "just cause" behind these investigative activities or it's a form of harassment?
Periodically, every few months, Bolsonaro's performance rating is reported as down. Trump gets those reports - all the time!

Brazil investigators carry out raids amid graft probe into Bolsonaro's son
FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s Senator Flavio Bolsonaro smiles near Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro after the launch of a new political party, the Alliance for Brazil (APB) in Brasilia, Brazil November 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Rio de Janeiro state prosecutors on Wednesday raided properties of the former staff of Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and relatives of the president's ex-wife, according to prosecutors and two sources familiar with the matter.

Brazil's Bolsonaro defends son against deepening graft probe
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday defended his son from accusations of corruption and attacked the Rio de Janeiro state prosecutors leading an investigation of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro's alleged money laundering and misuse of public funds.

Brazil poll shows rising rejection of Bolsonaro

The approval rating of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government is dropping steadily and its negative rating is climbing, a CNI/Ibope poll showed on Friday, as his combative political style and a weak recovery weigh on his popularity.


China-Brazil satellite launched into space to monitor Amazon rainforest
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows a deforested area in the Amazon rainforest, near the city of Altamira, Para state, Brazil, September 11, 2019. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo
An Earth observation satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil was launched into space on Friday under a bilateral program seen as a template for broader cooperation among BRICS nations.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says bill to allow mining on native reserves ready
(Did you clear that with Pope Francis, yet?)
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that a bill authorizing mining on protected indigenous reserves was ready and only needed to be sent to Congress for consideration.
 
Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from hospital on Tuesday, having spent the night under observation after falling at his official residence in the capital Brasilia, his office said in a statement.

Brazil's Bolsonaro released from hospital after spending the night
FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro looks on as he leaves the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil December 12, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado


Bolsonaro, 64, was given a brain scan at the hospital that detected no abnormalities, the president’s office said on Monday shortly after the fall.
 
Bolsonaro said that he briefly lost his memory after falling at his presidential residence in Brasilia, the capital, earlier this week.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says he had partial memory loss after a fall this week
The president’s office disclosed on Monday that Bolsonaro, 64, had suffered a fall and was taken to a hospital Monday night for a brain scan, which detected no abnormalities. Bolsonaro spent the night in the hospital and was discharged on Tuesday.

“I had partial memory loss. This morning I managed to recover a lot of stuff,” Bolsonaro told the Band TV network Tuesday night.
“Now I am fine. I did not know, for instance, what I had done in the previous day.”

Since September 2018, Bolsonaro has undergone four surgeries because of a knife attack he suffered during the election campaign.

Recently, the right-wing president also (told) journalists he potentially had skin cancer, but a biopsy ruled out the disease.

Bolsonaro signs anti-crime bill designed to tackle violence in Brazil
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed into law an anti-crime bill that toughens measures to stem a rampant deadly crime wave, although he vetoed some parts of the bill, the government said on Wednesday.
 
well, I didn't have time to look at everything posted on this thread, but as I'm brazilian and I have been following the policy carefully, I believe I can help to understand what is happening here in Brazil.

its important to note that the mainstream media it's the worst place to look for information about Bolsonaro because it's the same case as Donald Trump. Both are not Politically Correct to speak well in public, and the media campaign use everything they say to denigrate their good intentions against them, to brainswash the people.

after one year of government, what the local media themselves are having to admit is that there are two Bolsonaros - one who speaks and one who does. The Bolsonaro who speaks only makes confusion, but the Bolsonaro government that does, is doing everything right, and only not does much anymore, because the media and the political opposition do not let it.

I do not believe that someone well intentioned wishes to Brazil the same end that came to Venezuela, and I also do not know another candidate who went against the socialist regime of Foro de São Paulo. So, follow bellow a translation which has been a unanimous opinion, but that the mainstream media ( obviously ) does not publish.

When it comes to repairing the huge damage caused by more than a decade of Lulopetism and putting Brazil on the right track from various points of view, the Jair Bolsonaro government has made important proposals and achieved good results.
... ...
If, in the major themes of national life and Brazilian insertion in the world, the “Bolsonaro that does” has done the country a great good, unfortunately the “Bolsonaro that speaks” has not achieved the same result. The non-pope style in the language that made the then Federal Deputy famous is endorsed and praised by many of his supporters, but the president has very insistently and very worryingly crossed the boundaries between desirable sincerity and outright offense. or misunderstanding about the prerogatives of his office and democratic freedoms. And along with the words, small actions end up perpetuating old vices of national politics.
... ...
source

Bolsonaro is a buck, a loudmouth who values family and children very much. Because of this they have faced numerous problems with their personal image, but his government teams are very competent and know what they are doing. Those who voted for him did not vote for a statesman, much less a good president, but for Brazil to have a good government.

He will never be a Hitler because he has no capacity for this. The army & people that supports him would not support him in this regard. Hitler was an excellent speaker and propagandist, something that Bolsonaro could not even dream of being.
 
The Intercept Brasil website edited by Greenwald published damaging conversations between Moro and prosecutors in the Car Wash investigation that showed the judge advising them in the case against now jailed former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazil prosecutors charge The Intercept's Greenwald with hacking
FILE PHOTO: Author and journalist Glenn Greenwald speaks during a meeting at Commission of Constitution and Justice in the Brazilian Federal Senate in Brasilia, Brazil July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo
Brazilian prosecutors charged U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald on Tuesday with assisting a group of hackers who intercepted the cellular phone calls of Justice Minister Sergio Moro when he was the judge handling Brazil's biggest-ever corruption case.

“We will not be intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to silence journalists,” Greenwald said in a statement in which he said the government of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro does not respect basic press freedoms.

Greenwald was charged with criminal association with a group of six people who face charges of hacking the telephones of Brazilian officials as well as bank fraud and money laundering.

Greenwald has said the Car Wash investigators’ conversations were leaked to The Intercept after they had been hacked.

But the federal prosecutors said in a statement that an audio found on the seized laptop of one of the alleged hackers showed Greenwald advising him to erase all messages linked to The Intercept while the interceptions where still taking place.

“The dialogues demonstrated that Glenn Greenwald went beyond (his journalistic duty) by indicating actions that would hinder the investigation and reduce the possibility of criminal liability,” the statement said.

Greenwald, a resident of Brazil, became known internationally for his role in the publication of classified U.S. national security documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.

It was not clear whether Greenwald could be indicted since he was not under investigation and prosecutors were barred from doing so by a court injunction last year.

Greenwald said Moro had from the start called The Intercept “allies of the hackers” for revealing his collusion with prosecutors in the corruption investigation.

The Federal Police stated less than two months ago, after examining the same evidence cited by the prosecutors, that he had not committed any crime, Greenwald said.

“I did nothing more than do my job as a journalist - ethically and within the law,” he said in the emailed statement.

Rosental Alves, journalism professor at Texas University, tweeted that prosecutors exposed by Greenwald seemed to be seeking revenge when in fact he was trying to protect his sources.

Snowden on Twitter called it “naked retaliation” and a threat to investigative journalism in Brazil.

Brazil charges ex-Vale CEO with homicide for dam disaster
FILE PHOTO: Former Vale S.A. CEO Fabio Schvartsman looks on during a session of the special committee on the Brumadinho mining disaster, at the Federal Senate in Brasilia, Brazil March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo
Brazilian state prosecutors on Tuesday charged Fabio Schvartsman, the former chief executive of mining giant Vale SA, and 15 other people with homicide for a dam disaster last year that killed more than 250 people, according to the charging document seen by Reuters.

Ex-Vale chief charged with murder for role in Brazil dam disaster: documents
State prosecutors in Brazil have charged 16 individuals with homicide and environmental crimes for their role in the Brumadinho disaster last January, when a dam owned by miner Vale SA <VALE3.SA> burst, killing hundreds, charging documents showed on Tuesday.

Brazil charges Vale, TUV SUD employees with homicide: source
Brazil state prosecutors have charged employees at miner Vale and auditor TUV SUD with homicide in relation to a deadly dam disaster last year, a source told Reuters on Tuesday.

Jailbreak in Brazil sees 26 prisoners escape
Twenty-six inmates escaped from a Brazilian prison in the northwestern state of Acre early on Monday, with all but one remaining at large, the state prison authority said.
 
Paris city hall made Brazil's former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva an honorary citizen on Monday, in a likely blow to his political enemy President Jair Bolsonaro whose relationship with France has deteriorated.

Paris makes former Brazil president Lula an honorary citizen
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo looks on as former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures during a rally as part of her campaign for the upcoming mayoral election in Paris, France, March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

March 2, 2020 - The motion to honor Lula was backed by the city’s Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo.

“Immense joy to give the Honorary Citizen title to Lula. Paris will always stand beside those whose rights are not respected,” Hidalgo said on Twitter.

Brazil has turned its back on democracy since the election of Bolsonaro, Hidalgo told Lula at a ceremony, which was also attended by former President Dilma Rousseff.

Lula has attacked Bolsonaro, a right-winger, for impoverishing working Brazilians and vowed to unite the left to win the 2022 elections.

President from 2003 to 2010, Lula was imprisoned in 2018 after being found guilty of receiving bribes from construction companies in return for public contracts.

Lula has maintained his innocence and was freed in Nov. 2019 after Brazil’s Supreme Court issued a broader ruling ending the mandatory imprisonment of convicted criminals after they lose their first appeal.

Franco-Brazilian relationships have deteriorated since last year when President Emmanuel Macron was embroiled in a war of words with Bolsonaro.

Macron accused Bolsonaro of lying to world leaders about Brazil’s commitment to preserving the environment when forest fires erupted in the Amazon region.

Bolsonaro at one point insulted Macron’s wife and said he would only accept $20 million in aid offered by the G7 group of wealthy nations if Macron withdrew his “insults”.


Brazil's cracked city leaves corporate heavyweights on the hook
A man hangs laundry near a mining equipment used by the petrochemical company Braskem in Maceio, Brazil January 28, 2020. Picture taken January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
A sudden, violent tremor knocked José Rinaldo Januario to the floor of his kitchen one Saturday afternoon two years ago - a mystery given the Brazilian city of Maceio had little history of seismic activity.

After seven seconds or so, when the shaking stopped, the bar owner and his 21-year-old son Arthur raced out onto the street, fearing the house might collapse. “It was like a volcano exploded,” said Januario, 47.

Cracks in his home, which he had long assumed to be construction defects, widened in the months after the tremor in March 2018. His family was forced to abandon the house last year, part of an exodus of thousands of people being evacuated from the sweltering seaside city to keep them safe.

Last May, federal authorities identified a culprit: petrochemical giant Braskem. The authorities said nearby salt mines operated by the company threatened the structural integrity of more than 9,000 homes.

The saga, little known outside northeastern Brazil, has enraged many residents and officials in the state of Alagoas, the nation’s second-poorest. It represents a serious financial risk for Braskem and its two largest investors, bankrupt construction group Odebrecht and state-run oil firm Petrobras, Latin America’s biggest company.

Braskem believes the federal study that determined the reasons for the cracks in Maceio is methodologically flawed and inconclusive, and has commissioned studies of its own.

Nonetheless, in January the company announced a deal with prosecutors to provide 1.7 billion reais ($387.4 million) over two years to relocate and compensate 17,000 residents, though it did not admit blame for the damage. Its Brazil-listed shares shot up on investor hopes the accord would draw a line under a multi-billion-dollar question mark.

However seven state and federal prosecutors involved in the case told Reuters that the 1.7 billion reais - a cost estimate by Braskem - was a minimum initial payment and that the company may have to pay more out.

“That’s a floor, not a ceiling,” said Ricardo Melro, head of the Alagoas public defender’s office, the most explicit public indication from officials that Braskem’s compensation and relocation costs could exceed the figure flagged in January.

Melro said he believed the company would end up paying about 2.3 billion reais, about a third more.

Federal prosecutor Niedja Kaspary, however, said Braskem would also likely be required to compensate 23,000 other residents in adjacent neighborhoods as a result of a 6.7 billion reais federal lawsuit launched against the company last year.

Unlike the 17,000 people, those residents are not deemed in imminent danger, but authorities warn their homes could be vulnerable in coming years.

Slideshow (19 Images)
Brazil's cracked city leaves corporate heavyweights on the hook
 
Well, as a Brazillian, let me try to give you some perspective of what is happening.
Bolsonaro is often protected by his supporters by saying that people "take him out of context" or that "people misunderstood him".
Today, 15th of march, he actively encouraged his supporters to go to the streets all over brazil in a protest that is being propagandized as "against corruption" but is actually a demonstration of force against the STF (the Brazillian congress). His supporters shouted for an immediate AI-5 (AI-5 is the mandate that in the sixties turned Brazil into a dictatorship), held posters begging for the return of the dictatorship, and things of this nature.
Bolsonaro himself showed at one of the rallies, waving a Brazilian flag.
Now, you tell me if a "good person, albeit crude" would invite his followers to march in a thinly veiled movement against democracy?
 
Last week, there was a short report that Bolsonaro needed another surgery, due to injuries sustain in the knife attack but it did not specify his condition or what medical care he needed. There have been no further updates.

Coronavirus thumps Brazil, prompting nationwide cries of 'Bolsonaro Out!'
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro adjusts his protective face mask during a press statement to announce federal judiciary measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brasilia, Brazil March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
The coronavirus outbreak hammered Brazil on Wednesday, crushing local markets, infecting more members of the country's political elite and prompting loud protests against President Jair Bolsonaro, whose son waded into a diplomatic spat with China.

Bolsonaro says coronavirus to peak in Brazil in three-four months
The coronavirus outbreak in Brazil is expected to peak in three or four months, President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday, adding that
the country should then return to normality in six to seven months' time.

Brazil declares COVID-19 state of emergency as Bolsonaro approval slips

Brazil declared a state of emergency on Friday, freeing up funds for the federal government to fight a coronavirus crisis that has hurt the popularity of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government.

Brazil Senate approves state of emergency to fight coronavirus
Brazil's Senate on Friday approved a presidential decree declaring a national emergency over the coronavirus epidemic, allowing the government to waive fiscal targets and free up budget resources to fight the virus that has killed seven and infected 621 in the country.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says economy must keep going to avoid catastrophe
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that the Brazilian economy cannot stop during the coronavirus epidemic or else the country will face a catastrophe.

Brazil health system will collapse by the end of April -health minister
Brazil's health system will enter a state of collapse by the end of April,
the country's health minister said on Friday, with coronavirus cases hitting a plateau in July and hopefully falling quickly in September.

Winter is coming: cooling weather in Brazil could fan coronavirus outbreak
The coronavirus outbreak is landing in Brazil as the hot summer days in the southern hemisphere draw to a close and winter approaches, potentially worsening the spread of the virus, medical experts stated.

Brazil will not close airports due to coronavirus: minister
Brazil's federal government will not close airports and bus stations due to the coronavirus, Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Freitas told broadcaster Globonews on Friday in a live interview.

Brazil bars certain foreigners, allows Americans, as coronavirus spreads
Brazil late on Thursday announced it will bar citizens from certain countries affected by the coronavirus outbreak from entering the country, but exempted the United States, one of the countries with the highest number of cases.

Brazil coronavirus cases top 600, diplomatic spat with China bubbles
A general view of Ipanema beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Brazil surged past 600 on Thursday, more than doubling in two days, as a diplomatic spat over the disease's origins between President Jair Bolsonaro's son and the Chinese ambassador threatened relations with Brazil's top trading partner.

Brazil restricts land borders with neighbors due to coronavirus
Brazil decided on Thursday to restrict entry of foreign visitors at land borders with Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Suriname and French Guiana
due to the coronavirus pandemic, the presidential chief of staff office said.
 
On the Political end, it looks like the opposition is trying to remove Bolsonaro?

Brazil's Bolsonaro accuses house speaker of trying to remove him from office
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro reacts during a media statement to announces the new Minister of Health, Nelson Teich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brasilia, Brazil, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday accused the speaker of the lower house of Congress Rodrigo Maia of turning state governors against him in the coronavirus crisis and seeking to remove him from the presidency.

Brazil's Bolsonaro attacks coronavirus lockdowns as supporters take to streets
Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday again attended a public rally and attacked lockdown measures meant to fight the coronavirus, as supporters of the right-wing leader joined political motorcades around the country.

Brazil's Bolsonaro wants borders reopened, says worth risk
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday called for the reopening of the country's borders, as he pushes to restart South America's largest economy, but conceded he may be blamed if the new coronavirus outbreak worsens as a result.

Bolsonaro fires Brazil's health minister, calls to reopen economy
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro walks after a media statement to announces the new Minister of Health, Nelson Teich, amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brasilia, Brazil, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired his health minister on Thursday after clashing with him over how to fight the new coronavirus, and again called for states to end stay-at-home orders that he said were hurting the economy.

Brazil President Bolsonaro fires Health Minister Mandetta
FILE PHOTO: Brazil's Minister of Health Luiz Henrique Mandetta is seen before a news conference, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brasilia, Brazil April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta on Thursday, Mandetta said on Twitter, after the two had clashed for weeks about how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Outgoing Brazil minister denies Bolsonaro allegation he sought Supreme Court seat
Brazil's Justice Minister Sergio Moro speaks during a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
Outgoing Brazilian Justice Minister Sergio Moro denied in a Twitter post on Friday evening that he had asked President Jair Bolsonaro to be nominated to the Supreme Court before the president dismissed the nation's federal police chief.

Brazil's Bolsonaro denies trying to interfere in police investigations
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that allegations that he had tried to interfere in the work of the federal police were "baseless accusations" by outgoing Justice Minister Sergio Moro.

Brazil public prosecutor Aras asks Supreme Court to authorize Bolsonaro investigation
Brazilian public prosecutor Augusto Aras asked the Supreme Court on Friday to authorize the investigation of allegations made by former minister Sergio Moro against President Jair Bolsonaro, his office said.

Brazilians divided on impeachment of President Bolsonaro: poll
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro walks as he leaves the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil January 22, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazilians are split on impeaching President Jair Bolsonaro despite a majority believing accusations by the former justice minister that Bolsonaro tried to interfere with the federal police's work for political gain, a poll conducted on Monday showed.

Brazil court OKs investigating allegations Bolsonaro tried to interfere with police
A Supreme Court judge on Monday authorized an investigation of allegations that Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro tried to interfere in the work of the country's federal police force for political motives, the top court said on its website.

Brazil 'super minister' quits in Bolsonaro's worst crisis yet
Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro suffered the heaviest blow to his presidency so far as his popular justice minister quit on Friday and accused him of potentially criminal meddling in law enforcement, adding to the turmoil of a government struggling to confront a fast-growing coronavirus outbreak.

Close Bolsonaro aide to become Brazil Justice Minister: source
FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro greets Jorge Antonio de Oliveira Francisco, Brazil's incoming Government Secretary, during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia,  Brazil June 24, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to name his presidential secretary to replace former Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who accused Bolsonaro of wrongdoing in his resignation on Friday, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Despite outcry, Brazil's Bolsonaro taps family friend as top cop amid probes
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday named a family friend to head the federal police, just days after his justice minister quit over alleged meddling in law enforcement, which sparked a criminal investigation and talk of impeachment.
 
Brazil loses new health minister as Bolsonaro grabs reins in coronavirus crisis
Brazil's Health Minister Nelson Teich attends a news conference, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brasilia, Brazil May 15, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Brazil lost its second health minister in a month on Friday after President Jair Bolsonaro demanded wider use of unproven anti-malarial drugs to fight the coronavirus outbreak, adding to turmoil in one of the pandemic's worst global hotspots.

Brazil outgoing health minister thanks Bolsonaro, gives no reason for quitting
Brazil's outgoing health minister Nelson Teich said in a press briefing on Friday that he had decided to resign from his position, becoming the second person to leave the top public health position in less than a month in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brazil's military cabinet members push for general to become health minister: source
Military members of the Brazilian cabinet are pushing for deputy health minister Eduardo Pazuello, an army general on active duty, to become the new health minister, making permanent his interim role, a government source told Reuters on Friday.

Colombia to work together with hard-hit Brazil to fight coronavirus on border: Duque
FILE PHOTO: Colombia's President Ivan Duque holds a news conference at the Tecnologico de Moneterrey in Mexico City, Mexico March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez/File Photo
Colombia will work with hard-hit Brazil to increase the military presence along their Amazonian border and share information in an effort to fight an increasing number of coronavirus cases in the area, Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Friday.

Residents of Bogota slum facing eviction despite quarantine
People, wearing masks, are seen on a field that, according to the mayor's office, is at high risk of collapse and its inhabitants will be evicted, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bogota, Colombia May 15, 2020. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
Hundreds of people expected to be evicted from their hillside homes in a slum of Colombia's capital Bogota on Friday, despite having nowhere to go during the country's coronavirus lockdown.
 
Responding to the original conversation in this thread, I think Bolsonaro is a nasty piece of work. He's worthy of the 'ugly populist' brush the centrist PC crowd uses against nationalist leaders. Bolsonaro, as his actions have revealed, isn't a real nationalist. He speaks the lingo of 'traditional values' but hasn't any real moral foundation. I feel all the more sorry for Lula now. He would have won another term if they hadn't thrown him in jail.

This is exactly why constitutional democracies need to adapt to the reality of pathocratic factors and find a way to 'lock in' good leaders once they find them (and thus keep out barbarians like Bolsonaro). See Ecuador for another LatAm example.
I've changed my mind (again!). I have mucho respect for Bolsonaro now that he's practically single-handedly exposing the fact that overt govts are not in charge by protesting against 'his' govt's Covid-19 lockdown! It's very courageous, though perhaps reckless, as it's likely to get him killed.

Someone apparently leaked a recent cabinet meeting video of him ranting about how he wants the Brazilian citizenry to arm itself against govt tyranny. The translation seems shaky, but I think that's the gist of it...

 
I've changed my mind (again!). I have mucho respect for Bolsonaro now that he's practically single-handedly exposing the fact that overt govts are not in charge by protesting against 'his' govt's Covid-19 lockdown! It's very courageous, though perhaps reckless, as it's likely to get him killed.

I still can't sympathize much with Bolsonaro, but I must admit that I also have respect for his position regarding the COVID-19 lockdown. That's truly something.

And on the other hand, I lost a lot of respect for Lula and his followers in Brazil, because they are effectively using the situation as political weapon to stir the population against Bolsonaro.

I've recently received a video where a Brazilian doctor was very angry saying how people are dying indeed but of other causes and how they're registering everything as Covid, and how these politicians are using this for their own advantage instead of truly thinking about the people that are already going to hospitals because they don't have food.

I know it's common to use whatever situation as a political weapon, but in this case, they're using a massive lie that is putting so many people in worse conditions and bringing totalitarianism on them... and it is quite annoying to see that!
 
I found it rather interesting today as I was going through the news that two events coincided, first Luiz Inacio Lula Dasilva's convict is annulled by the supremer court in Brazil:

Brazil Supreme Court ruling annuls ex-president Lula's convictions, making him eligible to run in 2022 election

Monday's ruling means that Lula's political rights have been restored, making him eligible to run against Brazil's current leader, Jair Bolsonaro, in the presidential election in 2022. The country's so-called 'Clean Record Act' bars those with convictions from holding public office, a measure which already cost the veteran politician a spot in the 2018 presidential race.
Then, I also noted that this letter by several opposition leaders was sent out to "humanity" telling the world and the united nations and other organizations that Bolsonaro was such a criminal and his handling of the pandemic had been atrocious and murderous and whatnot, here are a few excepts from the later translated by deepL:

Brazil is crying out for help. Brazilians committed to life are hostages of the genocidal Jair Bolsonaro, who occupies the Presidency of Brazil, along with a band of fanatics driven by fascist irrationality.

this man without humanity, denies science, life, environmental protection and compassion. Hatred of the other is his reason for exercising power.

The abandonment of vaccination and basic preventive measures, the encouragement of agglomeration and the breakdown of confinement, combined with the total absence of a sanitary policy, create the ideal environment for new mutations of the virus and put all of humanity at risk. We observe with horror the systematic extermination of our population, especially the poor, quilombolas and indigenous people.

The pandemic is killing our people. We don't know where to turn, because those who could do something are not doing it.

So the letter seems to be your standard "save us from this evil dictator" that we've heard a few times in the past, but it occurred to me that getting Lula out of prison just in time for the elections, and even if he disagrees or not, he will have to position himself against Bolsonaro in the context of the management of the virus, that is the only way to have his base be content enough to vote for him.

So, a few years ago I would have celebrated Lula getting out of jail, specially after what they did to Dilma Rousseff, but today I am not so sure about what will happen to Brazil should he come back into power, I think he is a lot more useful to the PTB than Bolsonaro is, and hence why Bolsonaro is getting constantly demonized in the international press and Lula is back to being a hero of the people of Brazil.


https://www.rt.com/news/517551-lula-brazil-convictions-bolsonaro/
 
So the letter seems to be your standard "save us from this evil dictator" that we've heard a few times in the past, but it occurred to me that getting Lula out of prison just in time for the elections, and even if he disagrees or not, he will have to position himself against Bolsonaro in the context of the management of the virus, that is the only way to have his base be content enough to vote for him.

So, a few years ago I would have celebrated Lula getting out of jail, specially after what they did to Dilma Rousseff, but today I am not so sure about what will happen to Brazil should he come back into power, I think he is a lot more useful to the PTB than Bolsonaro is, and hence why Bolsonaro is getting constantly demonized in the international press and Lula is back to being a hero of the people of Brazil.

the annulment still was made by a single minister of the supreme court and not by the collegiate, for now.

that minister was indicated by Dilma Roussef because he is a notorius "communist militant", so legally he should have declared himself prevented from judging alone any matter of this proportion, according to international legal doctrine.

the supreme court also have prevented the current president (Bolsonaro) from acting in the pandemic except for sending federal money to be spent without any (federal) control because of the pandemic.

the supreme court is clearly interpreting laws according personal pro-socialist political activism of the ministers, and in this way it has been causing a lot of confusion and legal uncertainty to denigrate the current (Bolsonaro) government, but I believe that most brazilians already know that their political objective is to take Brazil on the same way of Venezuela, because that was always the plan of Lula, Hugo Chaves and Fidel Castro, since when they created the infamous Foro de São Paulo (in 1990).

there is already unanimity among the leading jurists that the supreme court has been behaving like a political party that nobody can counter, there are several requests for reviews and impeachments for ministers, but politicians do nothing because they are committed to crimes of corruption, literally with their freedoms at the hands of those same ministers who are acting as party militants.

the current political and economic scenario here is not good for the brazilian people.
 
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