'So what?': Bolsonaro shrugs off Brazil's rising coronavirus death toll

[Judi Lynn]

Outrage at president’s response to news that more than 5,000 people have lost their lives

Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Wed 29 Apr 2020 09.37 EDT

More than 5,000 Brazilians have lost their lives to the coronavirus – even more people than in China, if its official statistics are to be believed.

But on Tuesday night Brazil’s president shrugged off the news. “So what?” Jair Bolsonaro told reporters when asked about the record 474 deaths that day. “I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?”

Bolsonaro’s 11-word response – the latest in a series of remarks belittling the pandemic – sparked immediate fury. One newspaper, the Estado de Minas, stamped the president’s words on to a black front page beside Brazil’s death toll: 5,017.

“Bolsonaro isn’t just an awful politician and a bad president, he’s a despicable human being,” tweeted Marcelo Freixo, a leftwing opponent.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/so-what-bolsonaro-shrugs-off-brazil-rising-coronavirus-death-toll

Also posted in LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142482350

[DBoon]

1. Not surprising given his support for this:

Consequences of the Brazil military coup, supported by Bolsonaro per wikipedia:

In July 1972, a three-page telegram from the American Embassy in Brasilia to the US Secretary of State's office outlined the "Allegation of Torture in Brazil".[51] The memo alludes to the "peak" of "allegations" of torture, as acknowledged by "high Brazilian officials," stretched from 1968 until the "first half of 1971." The memo credits the marked "reduction" in torture, or allegations of torture, to the "great part of GOB success in substantially reducing [the] number of active terrorists." The memo did acknowledge, nevertheless, that "ample evidence" continued to reveal "harsh interrogation techniques are still being employed at regional and local levels, in some areas and by some security units more flagrantly than in others." "Rightly or wrongly", the telegram continued, "many Brazilians attribute the success of anti-terrorism program to the strength of measures employed against subversives and there are indications that most Brazilians exercising influence upon the regime are prepared to accept international criticism so long as the government considers these measures to be necessary." The American Embassy warned through this memo that US relations with Brazil remained fragile, arguing that "efforts by any branch of US government or by US political figures to bring pressure on Brazil would not only damage our general relations but, by equating reduction in anti-terror measures with weakness under pressure, could produce opposite of intended result." "[With] respect to new formulation contained in state 117951", the memo forewarned, "it obviously would be impossible now or at any time in the future to be in a position realistically to certify that the GOB is not engaged in torture of political prisoners."[51]

A number of reports reveal the numbers of suspects arrested in Brazil and the different techniques used to torture suspects during the process of interrogation.[52] A report written in April 16, 1973 to the U.S. Department of State titled “Widespread Arrests And Psychophysical Interrogation Of Suspected Subversive” gave specific details that accounted for what happened in Brazil. According to the report, there had been dramatically increased in arrests in 1973, with a specific week period. The majority of the suspects were university students. These students were arrested within several weeks in the Rio area. When arrested and interrogated, the suspects were “submitted to the old methods of physical violence, which sometimes cause death.” The increase in the number of suspects stemmed from the police report, especially on individuals who were jailed before.[53]

Another report, dated April 18, 1973, highlighted that over 300 individuals were arrested for subversive activities. Though the report listed students as the most substantial portion of the arrests, individuals such as university professors, journalists, and physicians were also detained. The method for torture upon a suspect who is picked up usually begins with the suspect being forced into a car at gun point by an undercover policeman. A veil is then placed over the detainee's head and then instructed to lie down in the back of the police vehicle while they are being transported. Upon arrival the captive is stripped nude and forced to sit in either a refrigerated or darken cell for several hours, with loudspeakers broadcasting screaming, sirens, and whistles at high decibel levels. The suspect is then interrogated by agents who inform him of the charges he's being accused of and told how far they would go to extract the information from them. If the detainee is still uncooperative, they are subjected to increasingly painful physical and mental torture. Which includes being placed in a room nude with a metal floor that has an electrical current pulsating through it. The suspect will be kept in this room for several hours. If the suspect has not yet confessed, they will be transferred to other “special effects” room. All while the suspect is being denied food and water. Though the document references trials by military tribunals and arrests made by members of the military, the document also makes note of the use of the Brazilian police in the interrogation and torture process. Individuals labeled as hardened terrorists or known radical subversives usually faced an expedited execution process. A common practice for executions was to utilize a technique known as “the shootout technique”, in which the executed subject was deemed to have died in a “shootout” with the police.

This criminal is gleeful at the prospect of torturing and murdering his political opponents. No wonder he has no concern for those dying in a pandemic.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Sounds as if they have added their own touches and variations to the ugly array of torture tactics.

It's very useful information to see, DBoon. So good to have been given this window to peer into their own repertoire of sadistic tools they use against anyone who dares challenge the fascists who have always tried to control Brazil's population.

Thank you, very much.

[niyad]

2. Appalling how much alike he and the MURDERER in the WH sound.

[Midnight Writer]

3. So I guess he "accepts no responsibility at all".