Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Brazil in protest against the Corona management of President Jair Bolsonaro. The left-wing ex-president Lula even accused the government of “genocide”.
Slogans like “Away with Bolsonaro”, “Government of Hunger and Unemployment” and “Vaccination Now” are on banners. The corona crisis and anger about the government’s handling of it drove tens of thousands of people onto the streets of Brazil on Saturday. The Brazilians demanded more vaccinations, better economic support and demanded the resignation of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Demonstrations took place in more than 20 major cities, including Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Recife and São Paulo. “We have more than 2,000 deaths a day,” replied a young student when asked why she was taking part in the protests. Many remembered the sad Corona record in the country with signs reading “500,000”. At the weekend, Brazil crossed the threshold of half a million Covid deaths – only in the USA is the official number of victims even higher.
Epidemiologist: “Third wave is rolling towards us”
Right from the start, Brazilian President Bolsonaro played down the pandemic as a “minor flu” and vehemently fought against tough exit restrictions. When the country was shaken by a violent second corona wave at the beginning of the year, individual states and municipalities took containment measures independently – and were criticized by Bolsonaro for the economic effects.
In many Brazilian cities, there is still a deceptive normality: shops, restaurants and bars are open, numerous people are on the streets. Without a mask, without a gap. But a look at the hospitals shows the seriousness of the situation: In 19 of the 27 states, the intensive care units are more than 80 percent occupied, in eight of them even 90 percent.
The demonstrators accused the controversial head of state on Saturday of having promoted the rapid spread of the corona virus through its public trivialization. Bolsonaro’s refusal to recognize the dangers posed by the coronavirus are “absurd,” said 50-year-old Robert Almeida during a protest march in Rio de Janeiro. The head of state “said goodbye to reality”. “Half a million reasons to depose Bolsonaro,” said another demonstrator’s sign.
The Brazilian Ministry of Health reported 82,288 new corona infections within one day on Saturday. This increased the total number of infections to almost 18 million. The ministry stated the number of corona deaths as 500,800, 2301 infected people died on Saturday alone. “The third wave is rolling towards us, but the vaccinations, which could make the difference, are still progressing too slowly,” criticized the epidemiologist Ethel Maciel.
In the largest country in Latin America, only just under 30 percent of the 212 million inhabitants have received a vaccine dose, around eleven percent are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. “It’s very frustrating,” says the 34-year-old protester Felipe Rocha, who is still waiting for his first dose.
The slow pace of vaccination is also due to the late order from the Brazilian government. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer said the company did not receive any response to offers to buy vaccines from the government between August and November last year. Bolsonaro himself recently even expressed doubts about the sense of vaccinations. “We are protesting against the murderous Bolsonaro government, which last year did not buy vaccines or take care of its people,” said Aline Rabelo, 36, at a demonstration in Brasilia.
A broad alliance of social organizations, trade unions, parties and politicians called for the protests. Including the left ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – a potential challenger to Bolsonaro in the presidential election next year. : “500,000 deaths from a vaccinated disease in a country that has a worldwide name for vaccinations. That has a name: genocide.”
that Bolsonaro’s popularity has hit a new low. Only 24 percent of Brazilians said they found their government “good” or “very good”. The same study showed that his left rival Lula would win a runoff election. A parliamentary committee of inquiry is now examining the Bolsonaro government’s crisis management in the pandemic.
Third corona wave meets drought wave
Bolsonaros decided to offer his country to host the South American Copa América soccer championship after Colombia and Argentina refused to do so. Officials said on Friday that 82 people connected to the tournament were already infected with Covid-19, as the news agency reported. The Brazilian Ministry of Health announced that 37 players and employees of the ten tournament teams and 45 workers had been infected.
In addition to the third wave of infections, Brazil is plagued by a severe drought, the worst in more than 90 years. Experts assume that the upcoming forest fire season will make the fight against the pandemic even more difficult. The smoke could even make Covid-19 cases worse by increasing inflammation in the lungs. “It’s a dangerous situation,” said Dr. Aljerry Rêgo, director of a Covid facility in the Amazonian state of Amapá of the “”. “And of course the greatest risk is to continue to overwhelm the public health system, which is already precarious in the Amazon.”
