Bolsonaro's Coronavirus Response is a Campaign of Terror Against Black and Indigenous People

[Judi Lynn]

Post on: June 3, 2020 Robert Belano

Brazil is a new epicenter in the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The death toll has doubled in only the last two weeks, reaching more than 30,000. Not coincidentally, the country is led by the world’s foremost coronavirus denier: Jair Bolsonaro.



Miguel Schincariol / AFP via Getty Images

In the last two weeks, the number of deaths from coronavirus in Brazil has doubled, reaching 30,000. Brazil has jumped from eleventh place to second in Covid-19, behind only the United States. On May 1, the country reported around 5,000 cases. Today the total stands at over half a million. Since testing rates in Brazil still lag far behind those of other countries, we must assume the real count to be far higher. By some estimates, Brazil will reach between 82,000 and 163,000 deaths before the end of July. In the face of this quickly mounting death toll, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has not taken any serious measures to stem the spread of the virus. In fact, he has done just the opposite.

Bolsonaro continues to dismiss attempts to contain the pandemic as “hysteria” and calls for Brazilians to resist quarantine measures. He has attended massive public rallies in favor of reopening the Brazilian economy. He has fired one health minister, compelled his replacement to resign, and finally filled the position with a military general with no public health experience at all. Asked by a journalist about the deepening Coronavirus crisis, Bolsonaro replied: “So what? What do you want me to do about it?” He continued, “We all mourn the lives lost, but it’s the natural course of life.”

The only explanation for such an irrational response is the most disturbing one: the spread of coronavirus in Brazil is part of a conscious policy by the Bolsonaro government.

Bolsonaro and his far-right clique understand well that it will not be the country’s capitalists, nor even its middle class, who suffer most from the virus. These sectors have the ability to shelter in place and to continue earning an income without exposure. When infections do occur among the most affluent sectors, they will be able to access quality treatment. It will not be these layers, therefore, that shoulder the heaviest burden of the pandemic. Rather, it will be the poor and precariously employed, the Afro-Brazilian community, the indigenous, the elderly — in short, the expendable sectors of society.

More:
https://www.leftvoice.org/bolsonaros-coronavirus-response-is-a-campaign-of-terror-against-black-and-indigenous-people

[MustLoveBeagles]

1. K&R

Bolsonaro might actually be worse than trump.