Jair Bolsonaro was the choice of 39% of Brazilian electors. After the election, he has never lived up to the responsibility of being the president of all Brazilian men and women. His complete contempt for life, however, became indisputable during the fight against COVID-19, when both his words and attitudes contradicted his role as a constitutional authority, legally and politically endowed to lead the actions against the pandemic. Evidence shows that no other head of state made so many mistakes and in such a cruel manner.
Bolsonaro’s declaration that his administration would not buy vaccines from some manufacturers, along with his refusal to negotiate the purchase with other suppliers appalled the world. He campaigned for people to defy the sanitary protocols adopted worldwide. He scorned the people’s grievance, cussing a supposed “country of sissies”.
He refused to wear a mask in public events and even celebrated the death of a person while testing the CoronaVac/SinoVac – a suicide case with no connections with the vaccine’s effectiveness. He never stopped gathering crowds and challenging social distancing policies. He insists on spending public funds crucial to the public health system with medications for an “early treatment” of COVID, which is not only ineffective but poses the risk of death for users. His administration took over a year to form a Crisis Committee that has hardly done anything in practice.
The management of the pandemic is no longer a national problem. It became a global issue at a time of widespread international concerns with the government’s environmental and human rights policies.
Bolsonaro is the Brazilian expression of a type of authoritarian populism, and above all, of a far-right radical group dedicated to wrecking the most cherished democratic institutions. The president’s supporters placed a permanent target on the Legislative and Judiciary branches, the media, the federation, science, universities, trade unions, rights organizations, as well as on the independence of the Federal Police and other coercive bodies.
Striving to promote disinformation and chaos, Bolsonaro and his supporters accuse anyone and everyone who dares to criticize him of scamming to overthrow the president and brand them “communist” and “corrupt”. Not infrequently, such labels serve as pretexts for hateful persecution, attacks, and attempts of criminalization, when it is actually Bolsonarism that continually strikes the Constitution, inciting a rupture with the democratic order. The president is also indebted to provide explanations on the probes of his family’s murky businesses.
Despite Congress’s responsibility to oversee the head of the Executive branch and to sue and judge him for criminal administrative misconduct, petitions for impeachment pile up in the lower house. These petitions have been continually ignored by both the former speaker of the house, Rodrigo Maia, and the current one, Arthur Lira.
Now the major leader of so-called Centrão, the center and center-right wing forces in the National Congress, Lira and his group gather the fruits of a continued alliance with a president with no qualification or decorum in the form of bulky amendments. Federal congressmen and women, including those from other political groups, have never had so much access to public resources and positions in the Executive.
We defend that Jair Bolsonaro’s impeachment is carried out in perfect agreement with all constitutional and lawful rules pertaining to the case. That means opening investigations on so many serious accusations that rest on the president’s shoulders.
We the undersigned establish a compromise to form a broad political and social front to face the chaos caused by this administration. Those who continue to support Bolsonaro despite all evidence should prepare themselves for the judgment of history.
This editorial piece is signed by:
Agência de Notícias de Direitos Animais (ANDA)
Associação Brasileira de Imprensa
A Nossa Pegada
Brasil de Fato
Congresso em Foco
De Olho nos Ruralistas
Inesc
Gestos
GTP+ Grupo de Trabalhos em Prevenção Posithivo
Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil
Marco Zero
Maré de Notícias
O Joio e O Trigo
Outras Palavras
Outra Saúde
Portal Catarinas
Plural
Rede Brasileira de Conselhos -RBdC
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Edited by: Vinicius Segalla
