Brazil’s Covid CPI strikes new blow against “shadow cabinet” after video release

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL –  The investigations surrounding the existence of a “parallel [shadow] cabinet” of unofficial advisors to President Jair Bolsonaro during the novel coronavirus pandemic should be subject to a new onslaught in the Senate’s Parliamentary Inquiry Committee (CPI) on the pandemic.

The term became known about a month ago, based on the testimony of ex-minister of health Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who was fired from the Ministry of Health amid disagreements with the president, particularly over the use of drugs with no proven efficacy in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

The report was corroborated by other witnesses’ testimony heard by the committee, and by new material that came to the senators’ attention, drawing interest from members of the so-called G7 – the committee’s majority, composed of legislators in opposition to or independent of, the current government.

There are reports of the involvement of Bolsonaro’s sons in strategic meetings to tackle the pandemic, in addition to frequent contacts, within the president’s close circle, with doctors who advocate the use of unproven drugs such as chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and ivermectin.

One of the incidents narrated by both Mandetta and the president-director of the Brazilian health regulatory agency (ANVISA), Antonio Barra Torres, was an alleged attempt to change the package insert of chloroquine by decree. The two mentioned the existence of a draft decree that dealt with such a modification. However, doctor Nise Yamaguchi denied any such attempt.

The so-called “parallel cabinet” returned to the spotlight last week, with the resurfacing of the video of a meeting held at the Planalto Palace in September 2020 and streamed on Bolsonaro’s own social networks, as reported by the Metrópoles website.

The meeting was organized by federal deputy and ex-minister Osmar Terra (MDB-RS) and was not attended by General Eduardo Pazuello, minister of health at the time.

The recording shows that the president was advised, by doctors who advocated the use of chloroquine in the treatment against Covid-19, to create a “shadow cabinet” to take part in discussions involving the fight against the pandemic.

The suggestion came from virologist Paolo Zanotto, who called into question the efficacy of and need for vaccines against the disease. “It’s like a ‘shadow cabinet’, these individuals don’t need to be exposed, let’s say, to popularity,” he said in the video.

In the assessment of the Covid CPI leadership, this is further evidence of the existence of alternative advice on health in the Planalto Palace – and that often conflicted with what was recommended by the Ministry of Health.

“The video of the meeting led by Bolsonaro to enshrine chloroquine and demonize the vaccine will lead to a terrifying conclusion. Perhaps they are not lying when they say there is no parallel cabinet, but rather a parallel health ministry, which rejected science, while denialism reigned,” said Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), the committee’s rapporteur.

The vice-president of the committee, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), said that the recording is “the ultimate evidence of the existence of the parallel cabinet that the CPI was already investigating.” The legislator is the author of requests to summon both Osmar Terra and Paolo Zanotto to testify before the CPI.

The committee’s president Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM) shares a similar view. “He (Bolsonaro) knows that what we are doing is present facts. And the fact that there was a parallel cabinet discussing health was raised by the CPI. It is there. What better evidence could there be than this meeting? There is none,” he said in an interview to O Globo newspaper.

Last Thursday, June 3, a report in Folha de S.Paulo newspaper also shed light on livestreams by Bolsonaro’s allies detailing the activities of the “parallel cabinet.” Named as the group’s creator, ex-advisor to the Presidency Arthur Weintraub estimated the number of people advising the president on the use of hydroxychloroquine at around 300.

In at least two livestreams, Weintraub and anesthesiologist Luciano Dias Azevedo, one of the most influential physicians among the advocates of the so-called “early treatment” against Covid-19, expose details of the design and operation of the parallel counseling structure.

Members of the Covid CPI this week decided to analyze the requests to summon members of the purported “parallel cabinet” – dubbed by the rapporteur as the “Ministry of Disease.”

Among the names that may be summoned are Osmar Terra, target of requests from Senators Alessandro Vieira (Cidadania-SE), Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE) and Randolfe Rodrigues. Paolo Zanotto is also the subject of summons by Randolfe and Luis Carlos Heinze (PP-RS), as well as Luciano Dias Azevedo, in a request signed by Humberto Costa (PT-PE).

Two weeks ago, committee members also approved a request to summon Arthur Weintraub, who currently lives in the United States as the government’s nominee for a post in the Organization of American States (OAS). Calheiros said that the CPI can send a representative to the country to hear Bolsonaro’s former advisor should he object to coming to Brazil to testify.

In addition to depositions, the Covid CPI has been asked to breach the telephone and computer secrecy of two presumed members of the “parallel cabinet:” entrepreneur Carlos Wizard and city councilor Carlos Bolsonaro (Republicanos-RJ), the president’s son. These requests came from Senator Alessandro Vieira.

According to the legislator, Wizard must be heard over the suspicion that he is one of the financiers of the “parallel ministry of health”. The legislator also intends to determine if “there has been an increase in the assets” of Carlos Bolsonaro, who – according to Alessandro Vieira – was “called to take part and advise on decisions that should be made by the federal government.”

Other depositions

The Pandemic CPI has 24 requests on its agenda. In addition to members of the “parallel cabinet,” legislators may vote to summon 6 other witnesses. Senator Luis Carlos Heinze (PP-RS) suggests that physician Antonio Jordão de Oliveira Neto be heard on the same day as Paolo Zanotto. Neto is a member of the Association of Physicians for Life, which in February paid for the publication of a pro-chloroquine ad in major newspapers.

The committee may also vote on the summoning of Dr. Ludhmila Abrahão Hajjar, who was listed to take over the Ministry of Health after General Eduardo Pazuello stepped down. Her name was rejected by the Planalto Palace, and cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga took over the position. Senator Alessandro Vieira wished to know if President Jair Bolsonaro’s invitation to Ludhmila Hajjar “presupposed obedience to guidelines” such as “measures and drugs contrary to scientific consensus.”

The Covid CPI’s rapporteur, Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), suggests the summoning of Felipe Cruz Pedri, the Presidency’s Institutional Communication Secretary. According to Calheiros, the secretariat “has, or should have, a pivotal role in actions to raise awareness and inform the population.”

Senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE) presented a request to hear Jurema Werneck, Amnesty International’s executive director. She is expected to submit data from the “Covid-19 Preventable Deaths in Brazil” study. Senator Alessandro Vieira also suggests the summoning of the developer or technician responsible for the ‘TrateCov’ app. Launched by the Ministry of Health in January this year, the platform proposed the prescription of unproven drugs such as chloroquine.

The last request is for the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Rogério Caboclo. Senator Randolfe Rodrigues intends to interview him about the hosting of the Copa America, scheduled to kick off on June 13. “The event will be hosted in Brazil, a country with over 460,000 Covid-19 deaths, ranks second in the world in number of deaths, and is on the verge of a third wave of the disease,” criticizes Randolfe.

Other breaches of secrecy

The CPI is expected to vote on six other requests for the lifting of confidentiality. Among the targets are ex-ministers Eduardo Pazuello (Health) and Ernesto Araújo (Foreign Relations).

All secrecy breach requests are presented by Senator Alessandro Vieira. He claims that there was “unfortunate negligence of the ex-minister of Foreign Affairs (Ernesto Araújo) in securing vaccines and supplies for Brazil.” Still according to the legislator, without Eduardo Pazuello’s data, it would be “virtually impossible for the CPI to establish the truth of the facts.”

The committee may also vote to lift the secrecy of four other aides to the Presidential Palace: Filipe Martins, international advisor to the Presidency of the Republic; Mayra Pinheiro, Work and Education Management secretary at the Ministry of Health; Fábio Wajngarten, ex-secretary of Communication of the Presidency of the Republic; and Marcos Eraldo Arnoud, known as “Markinhos Show,” Eduardo Pazuello’s former marketing executive.

Information requests

The Pandemic CPI may also vote on 6 requests for information – 5 of them presented by the committee’s president, Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM). In the first request, the legislator wants access to data on population testing for the diagnosis of Covid-19.

In 4 other requests, Aziz seeks to clarify points in the testimony of oncologist Nise Yamaguchi, who testified before the CPI on June 1. The president is requesting the Ministry of Health to provide information on any contracts or transfer of resources to a legal entity with the doctor as a partner. The senator also requests airlines LATAM, Gol, and Azul to provide records of flights taken to Brasilia by Nise Yamaguchi and her two siblings, Greici Yamaguchi and Charles Takahito.

The committee may also vote on a request by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, who suggests a Federal Police investigation of the TrateCov app. He intends to investigate statements by ex-minister Eduardo Pazuello and secretary Mayra Pinheiro, according to whom the platform was the target of hacking and undue data extraction.