After becoming one of President Jair Bolsonaro’s fiercest critics due to his management of the Covid-19 crisis, Manaus Mayor Arthur Virgílio Neto now referred to the president as an “indirect murderer,” UOL columnist Josias de Souza reported. The statement came after Mr. Bolsonaro criticized the mayor and his family during a ministerial meeting. On the occasion, the president called Mr. Virgílio Neto a “tramp” and falsely claimed the mayor was opening up mass graves to overreport Covid-19 numbers.
The mayor, who is experiencing first-hand the collapse of the local healthcare and funeral systems, has begged not only Vice President Hamilton Mourão for help, but also French President Emmanuel Macron and teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Back in April, The Brazilian Report’s Natália Scalzaretto explained how Manaus could become “Brazil’s Guayaquil” — the Ecuadorian city where the trails of dead bodies on the streets have gained international attention.
As of this Friday, the state of Amazonas had 18,392 confirmed cases and 1,331 deaths. Since the beginning of May, at least 605 Covid-19 victims were buried in the capital Manaus.
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