Brazil's Bolsonaro attacks coronavirus lockdowns as supporters take to streets

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

APRIL 19, 2020 / 5:06 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

Maria Carolina Marcello, Leonardo Benassatto
2 MIN READ

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday again attended a public rally and attacked lockdown measures meant to fight the coronavirus, as supporters of the right-wing leader joined political motorcades around the country.

Brazil has more cases of the new coronavirus than any other country in Latin America. On Sunday, confirmed cases rose to 38,654 with 2,462 deaths.

Bolsonaro, who was not wearing a face mask, addressed a crowd of a few hundred in Brasilia, many of them wearing Brazil’s yellow-and-green soccer jersey.

His brief address, which was punctuated by the president coughing, touched on talking points that have become his usual rallying cry.

He called those in attendance “patriots” and said they were helping defend individual freedoms that he said are under threat by lockdowns imposed by authorities at the state level.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-brazil/brazils-bolsonaro-attacks-coronavirus-lockdowns-as-supporters-take-to-streets-idUSKBN2210V1?rpc=401&

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(You might want to take a look at the photo of Bolsonaro at the link. I think it looks VERY much like Hitler without a mustache!)

[jorgevlorgan]

1. Didn't he get the coronavirus?

[sandensea]

4. But he'll deny it until he's blue in the face.

Which in fact he may be soon.

Frankly, Brazil would be much better off with the vice president, Hamilton Mourão, as president.

[jorgevlorgan]

8. is he much different politically?

[sandensea]

10. Not so much politically, as personally.

A retired general, Mourão is quite the right-winger himself (ironically, given that's he's part indigenous).

But he's shown himself to be pragmatic and professional when dealing with officials from other countries (such as the new, center-left Fernández administration in neighboring Argentina), with whom Bolsonaro did everything he could to burn bridges.

He seems to hold his conservative views with much less of a chip on his shoulder than his boss. That always helps.

[spudspud]

2. The nose shadow does look like a Hitler-stache.

Fitting since he knows that if he can get the stay at home orders lifted, the virus will wipe out many in the favelas. It's not that he doesn't know how deadly the virus is, it's that those most likely to get infected and die are the people his right wing kind want to get rid of.

[NickB79]

3. "Maybe a few hundred thousand dead Brazilians will spare some rain forest acreage"

Said my wife just now.

Shit, that's dark.

[sandensea]

5. Inappropriate though the comment may be, at least her concern is more of an environmental nature.

But among Latin American right-wingers, it's not uncommon to hear wishes "this virus kills millions of (blacks/indians, etc.)"

In neighboring Argentina there was a stir last week when Julio Carballo, a recently-defeated small-town councilman from former President Mauricio Macri's "Let's Change" coalition, declared that: "I only hope that this pandemic will do an ethnic cleansing that we all deserve."

"For me, the virus should slaughter 5 or 6 million blacks - fewer Peronists, less welfare checks. Maybe then this country can move forward."

Not unlike so many Republicans here in the U.S., this sentiment is very common among right-wing voters in Argentina - and indeed much of Latin America.

[Judi Lynn]

6. He's every bit as vicious as Bolsonaro. Good grief. Not afraid to admit his evil nature, either.

Clearly, it's not just Brazil, is it? Hate-fueled monsters are everywhere, unfortunately. They all need to be revealed, wherever they are.

Thanks for naming a dirtbag to remember!

[sandensea]

7. It was shocking - even coming from one of Macri's people.

No one from the "Let's Change" coalition came out in repudiation of Carballo's statements.

It definitely reminds me of the way most in the GOP keep quiet whenever Cheeto or some Republican official says something racist, misogynist, etc.

He who remains silent is understood to consent, as a lawyer might say.

Hope you've had a pleasant and restful weekend, Judi. Interesting times - a little too interesting.

[SunSeeker]

9. Brazil's hell is just starting.

The body count will be horrific.