The Man Stealing the Covid-19 Show from Bolsonaro

06RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For weeks he has been publicly criticized and humiliated by President Jair Bolsonaro, and he was on the verge of being removed from office by his boss. But Brazil’s Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta is not letting this bring him down.

“We will continue to face our enemy, which has a first and last name: Covid-19,” the doctor told the press on Monday night. He confirmed that he would remain in office. In fact, Bolsonaro was determined to dismiss his Health Minister. The main newspapers had already reported the news. Then, at the last moment, the pressured President reversed his position.

Popular Minister

Several observers consider the preliminary outcome of the tug of war between the Minister and his boss to be a first-round victory for Mandetta. But many believe that it is only a matter of time before Bolsonaro will dismiss the 55-year-old.

On the other hand, others wonder whether Mandetta – at least in the medium term – has become “indispensable” because, unlike his boss, he has performed so well in dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

And this is arguably Bolsonaro’s greatest problem with the man from Mato Grosso do Sul, whom he brought into his cabinet in November 2018. The conservative Mandetta not only thinks but acts differently from what his superior demands of him.

The hitherto largely unknown Health Minister has also proven himself to be a skilled crisis manager in these difficult times and has taken on a leading role in the fight against the virus, a role which, in theory, should be the responsibility of the President.

Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, Mandetta has been presenting the latest scientific findings relating to the pandemic at press conferences on television in a professional, calm and educational manner.

While Bolsonaro downplays the virus as a “flu” and argues against isolation measures, Mandetta cautions of its danger and stresses the need to keep a distance in order to stop the further spread of the pandemic. As if he had just returned from a field mission, he always wears the blue vest of the health authorities over his white shirt.

His appearances are popular with the population. According to Datafolha’s latest survey results, 76 percent of respondents support the maintenance of the quarantine he recommends. An equally high percentage attests that the Ministry of Health is doing a good job in the crisis.

In contrast, only 18 percent support Bolsonaro’s proposal to return to “normality” and limit isolation to high-risk groups. Only 33 percent of respondents approve of his crisis management. Thirty-nine percent even consider it to be bad.

According to Datafolha, this opinion is also shared by a large proportion of Bolsonaro’s 2018 voters.

No one is irreplaceable

Bolsonaro never concealed his disregard for the code of conduct established by Mandetta. Right at the outset of the crisis, he urged him to use less alarming rhetoric and dismissed his warnings as hysteria.

The physician nevertheless remained true to his principles. He elegantly avoided politically challenging his boss and commenting on his statements and behavior. He always supported his statements on the results of scientific surveys.

But the more Mandetta became popular over the weeks, the more his superior grew resentful of him. Bolsonaro apparently felt his authority was being attacked. “I am the President,” he recently made clear when he was asked about the Health Minister’s recommendations that displeased him.

Mandetta lacked modesty, he said in an interview last week, stressing that no one is irreplaceable. Then on Sunday he said that success had risen to the heads of certain people in his government. He also spoke of dismissals. Although he did not mention any names, it was clear whom he was threatening.

But Mandetta will not be pushed out. Even after he had almost lost his job on Monday evening, he reiterated what he had said on previous threats of dismissal: “Doctors do not abandon their patients”.

He never mentioned Bolsonaro. Instead, he reiterated the significance of science and regretted that little was done in the fight against the pandemic that day, given the commotion surrounding his dismissal. He called for peace in order to continue working.

Shattering defeat

Mandetta owes his retention in office to a broad front within the government. Leading members of Congress and the Supreme Court, the moderate wing of the government and, last but not least, senior military officials, who are regarded as important allies of Bolsonaro, ensured on Monday that he would remain Minister of Health.

They had all stood behind him. Mandetta’s dismissal, they feared, would lead to a government crisis, which in times of coronavirus should be prevented at all costs. Bolsonaro buckled under the pressure and suffered a bitter defeat. Politically, he stands increasingly isolated.

Bolsonaro not only rants against the Minister of Health, but also against governors and mayors who enforce social distancing as a means of prevention. In doing so he is losing key allies.

Mandetta seems to have a better knack for rallying support around him. The former congressional deputy, a member of DEM, a conservative political party, proved this once again after the turmoil.

Differences of opinion are commonplace, he said on Tuesday in a conciliatory tone; what Brazil now needs is unity.