Venezuela remains Bolsonaro’s straw man, even in Covid-19 crisis

“Considering the inability of the Venezuelan dictatorial regime to respond to the Covid-19 epidemic, the Brazilian government will adopt restrictive measures on the border with Venezuela,” President Bolsonaro tweeted, a day after Brazil had registered its first death from the new virus, amid almost 500 confirmed cases.

According to the leader, his decisions are based on the World Health Organization’s recommendations, to seek the well-being of the northern region of Brazil. But we know they don’t. Since he became a presidential candidate in 2018, Jair Bolsonaro has been using Venezuela as his straw man, blaming every problem—real or imagined—on Nicolas Maduro.

Now, despite a huge list of governmental mistakes and inactivity—which include Mr. Bolsonaro making physical contact with hundreds of supporters at the weekend and calling Covid-19 a “hysteria”—they are once again pushing the “Venezuela button.”

In times of pandemics, border closes are largely welcome. However, the government ignores measures that are more important on the coronavirus to-do-list. Unlike the majority of neighbors in South America—even Venezuela itself—Brazil has not...