Behind Bolsonaro’s threats to leave the World Health Organization

The coronavirus pandemic is one of the most challenging moments in the history of the World Health Organization (WHO). Beyond the responsibility of guiding the global response to the virus outbreak, since the first confirmed cases appeared in China the institution has been dealing with the distrust of several nations governed by right-wing populists — chiefly the U.S. and Brazil. On May 29, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was pulling his country from the organization. Days later, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro threatened to follow suit.

The most explicit threat happened on June 6, when Mr. Bolsonaro said the WHO is acting politically. “The U.S. left [the organization]. We are thinking about doing that in the future. Either the WHO works without ideology, or we will be on our way, too. We don’t need people from outside to give opinions on health here.” The departure, however, would need to be approved by Congress — which would be, at best, a long shot.

This clash was not the first between Mr. Bolsonaro and what members of his administration call “the globalist establishment.” Nor will it be the last. 

On Monday, Mr. Bolsonaro misquoted a statement by Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on the Covid-19 pandemic, who suggested the spread of the coronavirus through asymptomatic patients is “very rare.” Mr. Bolsonaro used this to bash state governors, saying they “stirred panic” and damaged the economy with quarantines — for nothing. 

On Tuesday, Dr. Van Kerkhove retracted her initial statements, saying the actual rates of asymptomatic transmission aren’t yet known. But Mr. Bolsonaro stuck with his argument, saying during a televised cabinet meeting that her words could “allow us to go back...