Jair Bolsonaro has been destabilizing the political landscape of Brazil for some time now, but it was his poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has now led to a unified front to protect Brazil’s democracy. Tanzia Haq reports.
Politicians and prominent figures from across Brazil have published a manifesto calling for a united front to protect Brazil’s democracy and the lives of its citizens in the wake of Bolsonaro’s haphazard response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Movimento Estamos Juntos manifesto was launched on Saturday as death rates soared in Brazil, making it the fourth country with the highest death toll. The movement was established as 32,274 new cases took Brazil’s total number of patients up to nearly 500,000. Nearly 29,000 Brazilians have died since the first death was recorded in mid-March, showing one of the quickest escalations of coronavirus casualties.
Despite these terrifying numbers, Bolsonaro has, from the beginning, ignored social distance measures, gave speeches saying the infection was not serious, and refused to appoint a permanent health minister after two ministers were forced out within a month.
Leftwing congressmen Marcelo Freixo and Flavio Dino both endorsed the manifesto, with Freixo tweeting: “The choice is between democracy and barbarity … It is our country’s future that’s at stake.” Dino said the movement was inspired by Diretas Ja, a historic pro-democracy movement against military rule in the 1980s.
