Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro denounced for joining pro-dictatorship rally

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro denounced for joining pro-dictatorship rally

Far-right president deemed ‘deplorable’ for flouting social distancing rules again – while coughing repeatedly – to bolster protests amid coronavirus

Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Mon 20 Apr 2020 15.05 BST
Last modified on Mon 20 Apr 2020 20.25 BST

Former presidents, politicians and newspaper editorial boards have lined up to denounce the “moronic” and “anti-democratic” behaviour of Brazil’s far-right leader after he hit the streets to egg on protesters demanding a return to military dictatorship.

As the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 rose to nearly 2,500 on Sunday, Jair Bolsonaro left his presidential palace in Brazil’s capital, Brasília, to fraternize with flag-waving radicals.

Among the demands their banners listed were an end to the social distancing measures opposed by Bolsonaro, the closure of Brazil’s congress and supreme court, and a re-run of a dictatorship-era decree used by military rulers in the late 1960s to suffocate their political opponents.

At one point – snubbing social distancing rules for the umpteenth time since the coronavirus crisis began – Brazil’s paratrooper-turned-president clambered onto a truck to address the hundreds-strong assembly.

“The era of roguery is over. Now it’s the people who are in power,” Bolsonaro proclaimed outside the Brazilian army headquarters, coughing repeatedly as he spoke.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/20/jair-bolsonaro-dictatorship-rally-protest-brazil-president-denounced

[Newest Reality]

1. A pun?

...decree used by military rulers in the late 1960s to suffocate their political opponents. Unintentional pun there?

So, when can we expect Bolsonaro's funeral?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. "couging repeatedly" . . . nt

[DetlefK]

3. Warm climate, moist air, no social distancing, bad hygiene in the overcrowded favelas...

This will not end well. Once COVID-19 hits the favelas, Brazil has a real pandemic on its hands. Brazil has problems controlling the favelas as they are now, much worse when panic starts spreading and infected poor people try to leave.