Congress Passes Basic Income in Coronavirus Crisis While Planalto Struggles for Prominence

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, the Federal Senate unanimously approved a bill to establish an emergency basic monthly income of R$600 (US$150) to help low-income families in an effort to tackle the economic crisis brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The measure will be in place for three months, extendable, and will now be sanctioned by President Bolsonaro.

Meanwhile, across the Three Powers Plaza, President Jair Bolsonaro, who chose to reject the severity of the pandemic – totaling 159 deaths and 4,579 contagions in Brazil on Monday – is still struggling to play a leading role in the fight against the Covid-19.

The Planalto’s challenges are much greater than just image control: the most immediate is the search for logistical solutions to implement the payment of temporary social benefits.

While senators were voting on the basic income bill passed last week in the Chamber of Deputies, representatives of six ministries were granting a press conference in the Planalto. It was the debut of a new format used to remove the spotlight from Luiz Henrique Mandetta, the minister of health, and share the attention with other authorities.

Over the past two months, there has been an epidemiological report on the coronavirus every day, coordinated by the Ministry of Health. For more than an hour, Mandetta and his experts clarified what measures had been taken to contain the virus and updated the case numbers.

The group used to advocate measures that have been enforced by governors and mayors, such as social isolation. But faced with Bolsonaro’s stance in refuting the severity of the crisis and failing to comply with the Health Authorities’ recommendations, the Planalto decided to divide the disclosure of data among several portfolios.

Source: El Pais