Brazil business elite blast Bolsonaro's handling of COVID-19 crisis [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters


MAR 23, 2021 12:10 PM PHT

REUTERS

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

'The country is tired of out-of-place ideas, inconsequential words, and late or mistaken actions,' Brazilian business leaders and economists write in a letter



Hundreds of Brazilian business leaders and economists blasted President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the coronavirus crisis on Monday, March 22, and called for a new policy approach as the country grapples with spiking COVID-19 deaths and overwhelmed hospitals.

The letter, published in newspapers and signed by former central bank chiefs and some of Brazil's richest bankers, underscored a growing revolt by business leaders against the far-right president whom many had backed for his 2018 election.

Without naming Bolsonaro, they upbraided "the country's highest political leadership" for ignoring science, encouraging crowds, hyping unproven treatments, and "flirting with the anti-vaccine movement."

Speaking at an event in Brasilia, Bolsonaro did not mention the letter, but rattled off a list of economic achievements of his government during the pandemic.

Read more: https://www.rappler.com/business/brazil-elite-blast-bolsonaro-handling-covid-19-crisis

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They seem more conscientious than the "business elite" in the U.S.