Brazil: Bolsonaro begins a week cornered by his management of the pandemic

In Brazil, nearly 22,000,000 people fell ill with Covid-19, of which 605,000 have lost their lives, placing the country of 212 million inhabitants in second place in terms of nations with the highest number of deaths, after the United States (756,000) and followed by India (454,000). Based on this and closing a process that lasted a total of six months and where the actions of the national government were investigated in terms of the treatment of the pandemic is that the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry of the Senate recommended accusing President Jair Bolsonaro and other officials of a total of eight crimes, among which the “crimes against humanity” stand out. Where does this research come from? In response to the failure of the health emergency since the start of the health emergency, Bolsonaro and his closest officials repeatedly downplayed the severity of the virus, calling it as we all know a “little flu.”

In this line, treatments without a scientific basis were recommended, blocking measures by local governments to curb the spread of the disease and making smear campaigns on vaccines. This attitude did not change in the little more than eighteen months since the beginning of a pandemic that meant for Brazil the death of more than 605,000 people, something that prior to this number and the innumerable complaints against the Executive motivated the creation of the Parliamentary Commission of the Senate. This group presented on last week’s shutdown the allegations in a nearly 1200-page report that effectively blames Bolsonaro’s policies for the deaths of more than 300,000 Brazilians, half the country’s coronavirus death toll, urging Brazilian authorities to jail the president. In the course of tomorrow the document with the complaints in question will be voted on and more than likely approved by the Parliamentary Committee of the Senate.

Once this happens, Brazil’s attorney general will have 30 days to decide whether to file criminal complaints against Bolsonaro and the others mentioned in the report. If it does not, the Senate commission will seek other possible legal avenues, including the Supreme Court of Brazil and the International Criminal Court of La Haya.De moment Bolsonaro did not show any reflection on what was denounced, stating that from his administration they did “the right thing from the first moment” and that his Government “is not guilty of absolutely nothing.” The accusation comes at one of Bolsonaro’s worst moments of popularity, where polls for the 2022 elections place him behind former President Lula, in what will definitely be the event that marks the regional and global agenda next year. 

Original source in Spanish