• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

The Virus Man: Bolsonaro’s Further Destruction of the Brazilian Republic

Karlus Tamara by Karlus Tamara
04/23/20
in Opinion
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro wears a face mask during a press conference on the coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil on March 20, 2020.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro wears a face mask during a press conference on the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Sergio Lima, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In early March, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro visited Donald Trump for the fourth time since the beginning of his presidential term in January 2019. As he returned to Brazil, there were 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the large entourage that had accompanied him on this trip to the United States.

Nobody knows whether Bolsonaro had tested positive, as his results were never publicly released. What we do know is that, since coming back to Brazil, Bolsonaro made a strange but strong alliance with the virus. He became, metaphorically, the Virus Man. Brazil transformed into a comics’ plot, where superheroes battle against an unknown and powerful mutant agent.

While he was in the U.S., Bolsonaro’s more fanatic partisans were calling for a series of street protests on March 15. These rallies had an extremist agenda. They were against the Supreme Court, the Parliament (both lower and upper houses), and the mainstream media – all Republican institutions which, according to Bolsonaro’s supporters, are corrupted and obstruct the president from making necessary changes. In a confusing movement, Bolsonaro’s partisans demanded the return of the military dictatorship.

Bolsonaro’s Tactic

If initially Bolsonaro supported these demonstrations, after being pushed by several political actors, including some of his allies, he asked people to avoid the protests, saying that he respected the institutions and that people should avoid crowds due to the coronavirus.

The damage, however, was already done, as has been the case during his whole term. The president goes public to support an utterly absurd, outrageous right-wing anti-republican item. Then, after being hit by the protests against his agenda, he retreats, saying it was a misunderstanding.

Bolsonaro employed this tactic, for example, with the Amazon fires and the invasion of indigenous lands early in his term. It’s also the case with the health regulations around the coronavirus. His followers listen to his early messages supporting their madness and act accordingly. After he retreats to save face, the destruction has already been done. Chaos is installed, and the country’s republican institutions suffer another blow.

Born of the Virus Man

Upon his return from the U.S., and after having asked people to stay home and not attend the March 15 rallies, Bolsonaro suddenly went to the streets on that glorious Sunday. He shook hands with his partisans in front of the Presidential Palace and grabbed their phones to take selfies, ignoring all recommendations for social distancing. On that day, the Virus Man was born.

Since then, Bolsonaro has continuously acted to contradict every single guideline from his own Ministry of Health, who wants people to stay at home, enforce social distance, and close commerce, schools, and public venues to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

As usual, Bolsonaro shows his juvenile rebellious facet, by defying health authorities, which entice his most extremist supporters. He fights against the state governors who want to implement strict measures to combat the virus’ dissemination in their communities. He goes to his social media channels, saying that people need to go back to work.

Bolsonaro not only tweets fake news but also creates it: his closer officers, including his sons (in what is known as the “hate cabinet”) stage scenes where, in front of the press, pre-arranged “supporters” beg him to go back to work. He goes to street fairs to talk to humble people who are selling their street food. They talk about the need for everybody to go back to work and, of course, he endangers public health by creating crowds around him.

Destruction of the Brazilian State

Since taken up the presidential cabinet, Bolsonaro’s agenda is one of the destruction of the Brazilian state. He has strictly followed the neoliberal ideology of his economy minister, Paulo Guedes. His government has implemented several “reforms” that destroy the small welfare state built by the 1988 Constitution to assist millions of impoverished Brazilians.

In his pursuit of a “minimal state,” Guedes has implemented a speed privatization program of several public assets and passed a pensions reform that is harmful to low-income and rural workers, particularly women.

Protesters displaying signs with far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro’s face reading #EneNao (not him)
During the election campaign, Jair Bolsonaro’s outspoken statements about the environment, women, minorities, and others, galvanized protests with the hashtag #EleNao (not him). Photo: Nelson Almeida, AFP

In its will to destroy all public services, Bolsonaro’s government has drastically defunded public education, including support for scientific research within public universities. These cuts have hit environmental protection agencies hard. This has been a fast process, a trajectory that was leading to the destruction of the Brazilian Republic designed by the 1988 Constitution, towards the society Bolsonaro aspires for: a chaotic community with no central leader, but instead with small armed mobs controlling the people’s lives through force and blackmail.

In the meantime, powerless workers sell their blood to powerful families, while corrupted Pentecostal churches provide the people with a conservative ideology to avoid any criticism or protests against Bolsonaro’s government.

Implementing Chaos

With the arrival of COVID-19, Bolsonaro seized the opportunity to accelerate his societal plans. It looks like the virus, in a unique mutation, took over Bolsonaro’s brain.

In his brain, the virus “knows” that it doesn’t have much time and needs to act faster and faster if it is to destroy as much as it can. Bolsonaro listens to his guest. Transfigured in the Virus Man, he knows that he needs to act as quickly as he can to implement the chaos in Brazil.

Bolsonaro understands that he does not need Guedes and his neoliberal agenda anymore. The coronavirus has provided him a better and faster chance to implement his ideal society that goes far beyond the minimal neoliberal state aimed by Guedes and the Brazilian upper classes.

REUTERS: "Brazil likely has 12 times more coronavirus cases than official count, study finds"

It's clear that official counts that media outlets have been using for their charts – for "confirmed cases" & deaths – are very unreliable: not just for China.https://t.co/VblMPwOXGB

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 14, 2020

“Captain Corona,” another nickname for Bolsonaro, aims for the zero state with no republican institutions at all. He will build a society where the mob groups and the Pentecostal conservative churches reign, supported by the rich families with their private security armed guards.

Mainstream media commentators have already spread their conspiracy theories. Using their interpretive lenses based on the past, they affirm that the army will take over Bolsonaro, that there is a coup d’état going on, and that democracy is at risk. This is far from the truth. There is no “democratic threat” nor risk to this democracy. The Virus Man is worse than a dictatorship.

Republican Institutions and the Virus Man

Bolsonaro has survived within this democracy. He thrives in a parliamentary democracy, where he has been elected and survived well in the past three decades, and where he has arranged parliamentary positions for all his sons. The Virus Man goes further. He wants to eradicate all the republican powers able to question him or able to support people’s education and health. Bolsonaro is “frozen” in his anti-communist ideology learned during his army training.

Republican institutions have reacted against the Virus Man. The Parliament has approved an emergency minimal financial help (around $150 per month) to impoverished families. The Supreme Court has ruled against Captain Corona’s mad actions. However, with him seating at the country’s most powerful chair, combatting the virus is hard.

During the quarantine, many parents are restricting their teenagers’ use of mobile phones to enforce their attendance in homeschooling. Brazil and the world are waiting for the adult to take away Bolsonaro’s phone. Moreover, Brazilians need to become superheroes. They must use civil disobedience to defy their president’s orders, stay home, and support each other during this harsh period, all to avoid the chaos provoked by the Virus Man.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Karlus Tamara

Karlus Tamara

Ukrainian-Brazilian social scientist who loves Carnaval

Related Posts

Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with the police during a demonstration
World

Brazil Patrols Government Buildings Retaken From Rioting Bolsonaro Supporters

by Staff Writer
January 9, 2023
A woman undergoing COVID test in China
Featured

Soaring Covid Cases Shine Light on China’s Healthcare Gap

by Staff Writer
January 11, 2023
Dom Phillips
Media Freedom

British Journalist, Indigenous Expert Missing in Brazil Following Threats

by Staff Writer
June 6, 2022
European Medicines Agency
World

EU Watchdog Approves Second Covid Booster for Over 80s

by Staff Writer
April 6, 2022
WHO
World

WHO Urges Rich Countries to Pay Up for Covid Plan

by Staff Writer
February 9, 2022
Mask making
National

US Sets Global Record of Over 1 Mn Daily Covid-19 Cases

by Staff Writer
January 4, 2022
Next Post
Refugees and their children wait in the buffer zone at the Turkey-Greece border

Don’t Make Refugees Political Pawns in Turkey-EU Game

A man wears a mask as uses his cellphone at Times Square in front of an American flag on March 5, 2020, in New York City

Coronavirus Relief Bill: We Must Guard the Floodgates of Fraud

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 21, 2023
participants of an artificial intelligence conference

How AI Could Upend the World Even More Than Electricity or the Internet

March 19, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany

Eight Dead in Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Germany

March 10, 2023
Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016

US Announces $26M in New Aid for Rohingya

March 8, 2023
A flooded road in Batu Berendam in Malaysia's southern coastal state of Malacca

At Least Four Dead, Tens of Thousands Evacuated in Malaysia Floods

March 6, 2023

Opinion

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 21, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives

‘Cringy Awards:’ Who Is the Most Embarrassing US House Representative?

February 13, 2023
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post