Corona Crisis and Political Confrontation in Brazil. The
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
NO. 36 JULY 2020 Introduction Corona Crisis and Political Confrontation in Brazil The President, the People, and Democracy under Pressure Claudia Zilla During his election campaign, Jair Bolsonaro promised economic recovery, the fight against corruption, and an iron hand against violent crime – today, these tasks rep- resent the weak spots of the President: Brazil has become an epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though Bolsonaro downplays the situation and opposes containment measures, the virus and the chaotic crisis management are bringing about serious negative health, social, and economic consequences for the citizens. Investigations, in- cluding those on corruption, and revelations about the Justice Minister who resigned are targeting the President and his family. While the homicide rate is on the rise again in 2020, Bolsonaro pleaded in a cabinet meeting for armed resistance from the population against the health protection policies in the federal states. Threatened by impeachment, the President is struggling for his political survival, challenging the rule of law and democratic principles. In Latin America, the Covid-19 pandemic marked by major deficiencies, and the began with a case of infection registered in chaotic corona crisis management have Brazil on 26 February. The first officially contributed to the massive spread of the known death in Brazil (the second in the pandemic. region) occurred on 17 March. With a popu- The pandemic broke out in the context lation of around 210 million people, the of a political crisis and has made it more country currently ranks second in the world visible. In addition to the strong political (after the US) in terms of total number of polarisation for and against the President both infections and deaths. The capitals and his confrontation with the other of six federal states are severely affected: branches of government, there is now a São Paulo (São Paulo), Rio de Janeiro (Rio dispute over the most appropriate corona de Janeiro), Fortaleza (Ceará), Belém (Pará), crisis management within the cabinet, Manaus (Amazonas), and Recife (Pernam- and above all between the President and buco), where state hospitals are over- the state governors. crowded. Poverty, precarious working and housing conditions, a health system The Health Care System care units, more than half of which are in private facilities. After the re-democratisation of Brazil, the According to the World Health Organi- entitlement to health as a social right and zation (WHO) of the United Nations (UN), task of the state as well as universal access Brazil allocated 10.3 per cent of total gov- to health care were anchored in the Con- ernment spending for health care in 2017 stitution of 1988. However, the latter is de (DEU: 19.9 per cent). A 2019 survey by the facto not given due to the fragmentation of Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística the health care system and the weakness (IBGE) shows that total per capita health of the state health sector. In surveys, Brazil- spending in 2017 was around $1,000 (pur- ians traditionally state “health” as the most chasing power parity, PPP). Although this urgent problem. The country is also fre- amount is considerable by Latin American quently hit by epidemics; it currently regis- standards, it remains well below $2,900 ters the highest number (2.2 million) of (PPP), the average of all member countries dengue fever infections in the region. of the Organisation for Economic Co-opera- The health care system is divided into tion and Development (OECD). In the period three parts. The state health system (Sis- 2010–2017, the total health expenditure tema Único de Saúde, SUS) is financed by in Brazil fluctuated between 7.8 and 9.3 per taxes and social security contributions. A cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Pri- network of territorially and hierarchically vate actors assumed more than half of the organised public institutions provides own costs; public health expenditure was within services but also some that are purchased the low range of 3.4 to 4 per cent of GDP from the private sector. Around three quar- (Germany: 9.5 per cent). In the context of ters of the population benefit from it. Sec- austerity measures adopted under the gov- ondly, a private sector provides health care ernment of Michel Temer (2016–2018), to the remaining quarter of the population, public health care expenditure has been which has greater purchasing power. It frozen for 20 years by constitutional comprises both a direct payment system amendment (EC95/2016), thus only adjust- (ad hoc payments for the actual use of ments for inflation are allowed. In addition, single services) and a supplementary system after the first year of Bolsonaro’s presidency (Sistema de Atenção Médica Suplementar, (January 2019–January 2020), the health SAMS), financed by family and corporate budget has fallen by a further 4.3 per cent. contributions through individual and cor- porate health insurance schemes. Privately insured individuals occasionally turn to Interpretation(s) of the state hospitals (such as university hospitals) Corona Crisis for complex or costly treatment. A third pillar of the health care system is the mili- President Bolsonaro does not regard the tary sector, whose facilities cater to both crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic active and retired members of the armed as a public health or safety crisis, but (only) forces and their families. as a threat that could trigger an economic In contrast to the private sector, the recession. For him, however, this recession public health sector exhibits major deficits would not be on account of the pandemic in financing and equipment. Because capac- itself, but of the political management ities are limited, patients often must face strategy to contain it, which he utterly long waiting times and travel long distances rejects. This strategy is advocated by some for medical appointments or treatments, members of his cabinet and many of the even in acute cases. For every 10,000 people governors of the 26 federal states as well in Brazil, there are only 22 beds available as by large segments of the population. in hospitals (both public and private) (Ger- As a right-wing populist with an anti- many: 83 beds), and only 0.8 in intensive establishment stance – and similar to US SWP Comment 36 July 2020 2 President Donald Trump – Bolsonaro des- are both threatening the Christian Western pises the academic elite, expertise, and civilisation – according to him. In his opin- specialised international organisations such ion, today globalism has replaced socialism as WHO. He relativises the evidence-based as a preliminary stage on the way to com- findings on which these actors rely. He in- munism. This communism-globalism is capi- stead portrays himself to be no less legiti- talising on the pandemic to undermine lib- mate than a specialist in human medicine eral democracy and the market economy – or biology to declare his interpretation of according to Araújo’s terminology – and Covid-19 (just a gripezinha: “minor cold”) in to enslave humans. The aim is to establish a addition to strongly recommending treat- world order without nation states and with- ment using certain medications (such as the out freedom. The elevation of WHO as a cen- anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine) or tralising international organisation thus putting forward the racist thesis that the constitutes a first step towards world-wide Brazilian people are genetically superior communist solidarity. and not prone to Covid-19. He also accuses Araújo strongly criticises political cor- the media of scaremongering. rectness, which he assesses as an instru- The reasons for Bolsonaro’s rejection of ment of communism to control language, social quarantine are less to be found in a and ultimately to monitor thought and kill micro-sociological focus on specific groups the human spirit. In addition, the more of the population: namely all those in powerful instrument of “sanitary correct- Brazil who depend on a daily wage from an ness” emerges, since the coronavirus has informal job to buy food for the next day, created opportunities to oppress people. or those who live in large families of three The Covid-19 pandemic is thus in line or four generations in a confined space. with other scaremongering tactics, some Meanwhile, he even accepts the lethality of of which the Foreign Minister labels with Covid-19 in Brazil on the grounds that in neologisms: climatic alarmism, gender the end we will all die. Although his middle ideology, immigrationism, racialism, anti- name is Mesias, he cannot perform miracles nationalism, and scientificism. Against this (to slow down the pandemic). His argument background, he concludes, it is necessary to is rather purely macroeconomic, true to the fight for the health of the body and soul – motto “the Brazilian economy first!” but also against the parasite of the parasite, Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo’s inter- that is, against the coronavirus and the pretation of the corona crisis is somewhat communavirus. more complex and conspiratorial. In his In line with this – complemented by an blog “Metapolítica 17. Against Globalism”, anti-Chinese dimension – is the interpreta- in an article of 22 April entitled “Chegou tion of the corona crisis by Abraham Wein- o Comunavírus” (The communavirus has traub, Education Minister until 18 June, come), he provides his interpretation of the who regards the pandemic as an infallible current situation. For this, he uses a series Chinese plan to dominate the world. Bolso- of quotations from the book Virus, which naro’s son Eduardo, a national deputy for was digitally published in March 2020 by the federal state of São Paulo who is active the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. in debating foreign policy issues, also con- Araújo believes this book presents a totali- siders the coronavirus to be an Asian virus tarian programme that serves as evidence of with a single culprit: the Communist Party the communist intention to instrumentalise of China.