RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Since Tuesday, March 24th, Bolsonaro has advocated restrictions to social isolation and distance. He says the elderly – the most vulnerable group to the Covid-19 – should be protected, but that the majority of the population could return to their daily routine.
The President’s statements conflict with recommendations from medical experts, and governors have decided to ignore Bolsonaro’s calls to ease restrictions.
“It’s easier to be dogmatic when faced with a frightened population than to tell the truth. That damages popularity. I’m not worried about that,” wrote Bolsonaro. “Dogma accelerates chaos.”
Bolsonaro said he was thinking about the people, who, he said, would face a greater harm than the virus if economic activity remained stalled. “I will not sentence the people to misery in order to earn praise from the media or from those who until yesterday robbed the country,” he said.
According to the President, “almost 40 million self-employed workers now feel the consequences of a stalled Brazil”.
He stated that companies will not be able to pay wages while the isolation persists. Civil servants would also stop receiving salaries on time, said Bolsonaro. “There is no way to disassociate health jobs. Enough dogma! There is no health in misery,” he wrote.
After a speech on Tuesday against health bodies and the world trend to fight the coronavirus, Bolsonaro redoubled his efforts on Wednesday in an attempt to downplay the disease and encourage a good part of the population to give up quarantine and return to their routine.
The president has intensified the political quarrel with governors and legislators due to his radical position, and has lost new allies, caused worries of democratic instability, and has isolated himself even more in the crisis.
Bolsonaro’s appeals were ignored by the heads of state governments, who met and decided to maintain the restrictive policy measures.
Bolsonaro’s speech on national TV and radio on Tuesday evening, with attacks on the press and in favor of a return to school, was repudiated by the medical and political classes and triggered a remark from Bolsonaro’s vice president, General Hamilton Mourão, who advocated social isolation.
“Our government’s position for now is one: isolation and social distancing. This is being discussed and yesterday the president attempted to raise it and it may be that he expressed himself in a way, shall we say, that was not the best”, said Mourão.
According to him, Bolsonaro’s purpose in his speech was to show economic concerns. “What he tried to raise is the concern that we all have with the second wave, as we call it in this coronavirus issue. We have a first wave, which is health, and we have a second wave, which is the economic issue”.
The president’s position triggered not only a squabble in an official meeting with João Doria, governor of São Paulo and a potential rival in 2022, but also led to a break-up with state leaders who were former allies. Governors Ronaldo Caiado (DEM Goiás) and Commander Moisés (PSL Santa Catarina) criticized Bolsonaro due to the coronavirus crisis.
In a videoconference with governors of the Southeast, Bolsonaro argued with Doria.
Doria criticized the President’s speech and presented common demands from the governors. Bolsonaro reacted aggressively, accusing Doria of being “careless” and of being elected in 2018 by leveraging on his popularity, only to then seek prominence in an attempt to become president in 2022.
“The possibility of becoming president of Brazil escalated in your mind.You have no responsibility. This is not the time to criticize the federal government,” the President told Doria. “If you don’t get in the way, Brazil will take off and manage to curb the crisis. Get off the podium,” said Bolsonaro.
The clash occurred following a remark from Doria at the meeting: “I ask that you have serenity, calm and balance. More than ever, you need to command the country”.
On Wednesday, for the ninth straight day, Bolsonaro was once again the target of pot banging protests in major cities in the country – driven by the president’s stance on the Coronavirus crisis.
The president’s speech downplaying the impact of Covid-19 was rebutted by the World Health Organization’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who, in an interview with UOL, said: “In many countries, ICUs are crowded and this is a very serious disease”.