We’re covering the continuing war between Jair Bolsonaro, governors … and now the Supreme Court. Emergency aid starts to reach low-income Brazilians. And Bolsonaro’s losing ground on Twitter.
Supreme Court greenlights states to defy the president
After nearly firing his Health Minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, on Monday, Jair Bolsonaro once again addressed the nation last night in a televised speech. And once again, he showed his disgust with the Health Ministry’s social isolation directives. He said all restrictive measures are entirely state governors’ responsibility — and that the federal government wasn’t even consulted before these measures were taken.
What he is doing. Jair Bolsonaro wants to throw the burden for the coming recession solely on the lap of local administrations, presenting himself as the champion of hardworking citizens. He has said multiple times over the past few days that he has already drafted a decree which would suspend all quarantine measures.
Meanwhile … Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued an injunction allowing states and municipalities to continue restrictive measures even if the president issues an order to the contrary. “It is not up to the federal government to unilaterally ban measures (…) that are proven effective to reduce the...