Floundering Power Brazil's Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

ANÁLISIS CAROLINA 29/2020EN FLOUNDERING POWER BRAZIL’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Adriana Erthal Abdenur May 15th, 2020 Every country on the planet is facing cy in responding to the coronavirus not only the unprecedented challeng- crisis. es of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but also the magnified conse- Not all is bleak. A govern- quences of policy decisions made by ment document released by the Min- its leaderships during the preceding istry of Economy lists a series of years. Brazil —a country of conti- measures adopted in light of the pan- nental proportions that, not long ago, demic (Ministério da Economia, was widely considered to be a rising 2020). Those measures include: a power on the global stage— is clear- constitutional amendment that allows ly floundering in its response to the detaching expenses incurred to com- spread of the virus. This results from bat Covid-19 from the federal gov- an accumulation of errors —some of ernment budget; a R$2 billion credit them dating back decades, but most line offered by the Brazilian National accelerated under the right-wing Development Bank (BNDES) to in- government of Jair Bolsonaro. Over crease emergency capacity; expan- the past year sixteen months, Brazil sion of the availability of medical has seen the relentless dismantling of equipment, ICU beds and telemedi- institutions (including the universal cine services; trade facilitation for health care system, called SUS) imported goods such as personal meant to protect the most vulnerable protective equipment (PPE); and populations and the environment; temporary social benefits to informal repeated and frontal attacks on de- workers and unemployed members mocracy; and the pursuit of a bewil- of low-income families. Read out of deringly directionless foreign policy context, the list reads like a “best that disdains international coopera- practices” roster of emergency re- tion, human rights, and climate ac- sponses. Indeed, many of them have tion. All of these mistakes set the been designed by well-intentioned stage for a bumbling, incoherent, and and competent technical teams. —ultimately— deadly lack of effica- However, standing in the way of the ultimate impact of these measures is 1 ANÁLISIS CAROLINA 29/2020EN a bewildering array of political fire- sode in the political minefield into storms, most of them fed by the pres- which the coronavirus erupted. Since ident himself. the first case of Covid-19 was con- firmed in Brazilian territory, on Feb- On the domestic front, Brazil has ruary 26, the virus has contaminated attained the dubious distinction of over 62,000 people and killed 7,367 becoming one the handful of coun- people in Brazil (according to offi- tries in the world whose health min- cial figures from May 5th, Google, isters were fired precisely as the 2020). This makes Brazil the sixth spread of the virus began spiraling country with the highest number of out of control —for the express rea- total deaths attributed to Covid-19 son that he was doing his job. Ousted (Financial Times, 2020). Yet these Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, statistics fail to convey the true ex- who had defended isolation measures tent of the crisis. Brazil’s unusually before being fired on April 16, of- low rate of testing —the lowest fered a reasonably technical leader- among the ten countries with the ship for the country’s public health highest number of cases— suggests response (Lopes, 2020). Just two that the total cases in the country months into the crisis, he was re- may be as much as ten times higher. placed by Bolsonaro with a lacklus- Some of the emerging evidence for ter successor, oncologist Nelson this gap comes from health statistics: Teich, who —upon taking office as in many parts of the country, the Health Minister— called for a “peo- number of deaths due to mystery ple-focused” approach yet quickly respiratory problems is skyrocketing showed to be aligned with extreme- due to delays in diagnosis and false- right president Jair Bolsonaro’s negative tests (Saraiva, 2020). The views on the pandemic: an insistence trend is corroborated by gravediggers that Covid-19 is nothing more than in the Amazon city of Manaus, the another “little flu”, and the belief that first state capital to succumb to a isolation policies are economic sui- collapse of the public health system; cide. Far from an outlier, the swift the cemetery workers report a sharp replacement of the minister mid- increase in burials (some of which pandemic is emblematic of a gov- are now being carried out in collec- ernment whose empathy-challenged tive graves) far beyond the statistics president, when asked to comment provided by government authorities. on the fact that Brazil had surpassed China in number of Covid-19 deaths, This chaotic scenario, and the grow- shot back: “So what?”. ing knowledge that there is far more going on under the surface than the Indeed, the country’s changing med- official statistics reveal, begs the ical leadership is only the latest epi- question of whether there is a “Bra- 2 ANÁLISIS CAROLINA 29/2020EN zilian approach” to the epidemic. In officials with which Bolsonaro has fact, there are multiple Brazilian ap- populated top posts in his govern- proaches being promoted by authori- ment, including the vice-presidency, ties —either at different levels of are reluctant to contradict him direct- government or even within the same ly, but the Armed Forces have quiet- echelons— and they often clash, con- ly adopted social distancing) (Exa- fusing citizens or allowing them to me, 2020). The president’s support cherry-pick which political leader to base has shrunk considerably since follow in their public health recom- the dramatic exit of Justice Minister mendations. Sergio Moro, an ex-judge who left his post leading the “Car Wash” anti- First, there has been a gap between corruption investigation to join the what the president says and the mes- far-right government (Zafalon, sages coming out of the health minis- 2020). Moro resigned abruptly, ac- try. While Mandetta was minister, he cusing the president of misdeeds promoted self-isolation even as Bol- during a carefully orchestrated press sonaro continued to dismiss the grav- conference; among his allegations ity of the virus —sometimes during are the claim that the president at- the same press conference. It quickly tempted to politically interfere with became clear that their messages the Federal Police, and of prioritizing appeal to different groups. Mandetta personal interests over institutional was shown to enjoy not only the ones. backing of the scientific community, but also widespread popu- As a result, Brazilians have found lar support for his technocratic ap- themselves whiplashed by a series of proach to the pandemic (in fact, this political explosions, even as the virus popularity has been cited as a key rages across much of the country. reason behind his firing) (Ceriono, Instead of harnessing his considera- 2020). Survey data indicates that ble powers as president of a highly most Brazilians (76%) agree with the centralized republic to flatten the need for isolation policies and would Covid-19 curve, the president adds support the imposition of penalties fuel to the fire on the political front, for breaching quarantine (a measure actively supporting and even taking that has not yet been applied) part in protests that mingle demands (Congresso em Foco, 2020). for lifting social distancing policies with open calls for military interven- Bolsonaro’s anti-isolation messages, tion and closing down Congress and on the other hand, have appealed to the Supreme Court. In a number of groups that were essential to his elec- major cities, Bolsonaro’s supporters tion: businesspeople and key evan- have organized right-wing motor- gelical leaders (the senior military cades. The frenzied protesters, some 3 ANÁLISIS CAROLINA 29/2020EN wrapped in the national flag or wear- end up causing catastrophic harm, ing the national football jersey, drive even more than the pandemic itself. their cars, trucks and motorcycles In posing a stark false dichotomy through central streets, honking their between economic growth and public horns (sometimes, outside hospitals health —a simplistic view widely treating Covid-19 patients). rebutted by both health specialists and economists— Bolsonaro whips Although the number of people tak- up support not only among business- ing part in these protests is small, people, but also among many of they tend to attract attention in the those who are losing their jobs. On a media due to displays of radicalism, number of occasions, Bolsonaro has including, occasionally, acts of vio- called for “vertical isolation” (UOL, lence (Veja, 2020). Their visibility is 2020), despite growing evidence that also bolstered in social media by the such a strategy would lead to rapid vast “army of hate” —the tens of contagion and overwhelmed public thousands of profiles (some of them health systems. At other times, he bots) that carry out orchestrated vi- has —much like Donald Trump— cious attacks against those who de- promoted the unerring belief in the tract from the president’s extreme- efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a right views. Moro followed up on his silver bullet for treating Covid-19. resignation by giving a deposi- Across these positions, Bolsonaro tion against Bolsonaro at the Federal has eschewed scientific evidence and Police, on May 2nd (BBC, 2020). disdained expertise, clinging to the Since then, his supporters have ap- hopes of an easy fix that will cast peared among groups targeted by him as the savior of the economy protesters, potentially signaling a (and thus boost his chances of reelec- schism between the hard- tion). liners bolsonaristas and the lavajatis- tas, as Moro’s supporters are often The mixed messages being issued by called.

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