RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets for a second day on Sunday to call on President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under fire, over the government’s handling of COVID-19, which raged across the country and claimed more than 216,000 lives.
Horn-honking cars paraded through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and a dozen or more other cities while other protesters marched on foot, and some shouted, “Get out of Bolsonaro!”
Sunday’s protests were called by conservative groups that once supported the president, while those from the left came from the left.
“When Bolsonaro arrived, we voted for him for his proposals, which we found interesting, but the situation with the pandemic now is terrible,” said Meg Fernandes, a 66-year-old engineer who joined a rally in Rio on Sunday. , said.
She said she was particularly concerned about the situation in the northern city of Manaus, where there is a waiting list for hospital intensive care beds and a shortage of medical oxygen.
“I was already disappointed last year, but now with the situation in Manaus, I think (this government) should stop,” she said. “Goodbye, Bolsonaro.”
Thomaz Favaro, a political analyst at consulting firm Control Risks, said Bolsonaro had little risk of being prosecuted, though that could change if his allies lose a Feb. 2 vote for lower house leadership.
“Bolsonaro’s congressional base is unstable, but it’s robust,” he said, though it could be bypassed by the president’s popular popularity.
But he said accusations would be a key option that would change the country’s political trajectory. ‘
Bolsonaro – who is halfway through his four-year term – has come under renewed criticism over the past few weeks, both for the crisis in Manaus and for the delay in launching Brazil’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19. The president has long opposed the closure measures against the new coronavirus, arguing that economic damage is worse than the disease.
Brazil’s prosecutor general Augusto Aras on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to investigate Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello over the crisis in Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas. Aras quoted a document stating that the ministry was aware of a possible shortage of oxygen on January 8, but only started sending extra supplies on January 12.
A Datafolha survey just released from January 20-21 showed support for Bolsonaro dropped to 37% from 31% in December, the biggest one-month drop since the start of its administration. The number calling his performance bad has risen to 40% from 32%. The margin of error was two percentage points.
‘We are asking for an indictment of Bolsonaro because it is not just a crime he committed. The way he treated the pandemic – he spent money on ineffective drugs instead of investing in the vaccine and in oxygen “, says Tiago Sussekind, a 21-year-old law student who attended the Saturday protest in Rio joined.
The protests over the weekend are a call for the rise of Bolsonaro, although most analysts consider it unlikely.
Carlos Ayres Britto, former president of the Brazilian court, former presidential candidate Ciro Gomes and even singer Chico Buarque, have asked the president to be blamed for his response to the pandemic. A leading newspaper, O Estado de Sao Paulo, also published an editorial calling for prosecution on Friday.
——
AP video journalist Diarlei Rodrigues contributed to this report.