Poll: 82 Percent of Brazilians Reject Eduardo Pazuello as Health Minister

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Eighty-two percent of Brazilians believe that the appointment of General Eduardo Pazuello as interim Minister of Health was a poor decision by President Jair Bolsonaro.

A Vox Populi survey released on Tuesday, July 17th, supports the criticism voiced by Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes, who pointed out that the Armed Forces are playing an institutional role that is not theirs by agreeing to lead the fight against Covid-19 in Brazil.

According to the survey, 65 percent of respondents believe that the military should not be involved in the government or exercise any political role, while 30 percent support the permanence of members of the Armed Forces in the Executive.

The survey also determined Brazilians’ overall level of confidence in the military. Eighteen percent of respondents said they highly trust the military; 32 percent trust it moderately; 17 percent trust it; while 31 percent do not.

The survey was commissioned by the the leftist Workers’ Party (PT) and interviewed 1,500 people over the phone between June 25th and July 3rd. The error margin is 2.5 percent, plus or minus, an estimated 95 percent confidence interval.

“Genocide”

In a statement released on Tuesday, Gilmar said that he respects the Armed Forces, but that the moment calls for a “cautious interpretation”. “We are experiencing a turning point in our republican history where, in addition to the spirit of solidarity, we must surround ourselves with a critical judgment on the role attributed to state institutions in facing the greatest health and social crisis of our time,” he said.

The Justice stated that the military are, even if involuntarily, being called to fulfill a different mission to their role as a permanent institution of the State.

On Saturday, the justice said that the Army is associating itself with a “genocide” by agreeing to conduct the disastrous public policies in the fight against Covid-19 at the highest level of government.

“That’s terrible for the image of the Armed Forces. It must be clearly said: the Army is associating itself with this genocide, it is irrational. We have to put an end to it,” said the Justice at the time.

Until Tuesday, the country recorded 1.8 million confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, and was close to 73,000 deaths. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health is headed by a general, rather than by someone with technical training.

Although the Ministry of Defense rejected Gilmar’s statement, it reverberated in Brasília, as the Supreme Court justice’s statement led the government to consider anticipating the process of choosing a new Health Ministry head.

Source: Conjur