During the pandemic crisis, President Jair Bolsonaro has distinguished himself as arguably the biggest Covid-19 denialist in the world. He compared the disease to the “sniffles,” said social isolation was useless against the coronavirus, promoted unproven treatments, and incited supporters to break into hospitals and “film empty beds.” In his mind, this would prove that the crisis is being blown out of proportion in a stunt to destabilize his administration. All that despite growing numbers of infections and deaths.
Now, Jair Bolsonaro is one of the 1.6 million people in Brazil to have contracted the novel coronavirus. And he hopes to turn his diagnosis into a political weapon.
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Background reading:
- Follow our Covid-19 Live Blog coverage.
- Bolsonaro won’t be able to make lemonade of Covid-19 diagnosis, writes editor-in-chief Gustavo Ribeiro.
- Listen to episode #110: Chloroquine, Bolsonaro’s “miracle” cure for Covid-19.
- Data journalist Aline Gatto Boueri shows that deaths have spiked in many Brazilian cities this year. Rio de Janeiro, for instance, saw eight times more deaths in 2020.
- Jair Bolsonaro’s response to Covid-19 as deaths pile up.
Explaining Brazil is made by:
- Gustavo Ribeiro is the editor-in-chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
- Euan Marshall is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.
Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at [email protected]
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