While Brazil reaches half a million cases of COVID-19, with almost thirty thousand deaths, the country remains without a health minister and the president Bolsonaro rides a horse amid a demonstration as if nothing had happened

According to a survey carried out by the independent health data platform Functional Health Techo, the next July 6th will be the peak of contamination by COVID-19 in Brazil. On that date, the country will reach 1.78 million people with the coronavirus. This number, however, does not account for the cases of people recovered or who died.

According to the figures released by the state's health departments, Brazil currently has 514,992 cases of the new coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2), with 29,341 deaths, thus passing France in the number of deaths.

In the midst of this unprecedented health crisis, Brazil remains without a Minister of Health, a portfolio that is currently occupied temporarily by a military man who is not a doctor and has no experience in the area of public health. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, on the other hand, rode out on horseback to participate in a demonstration by supporters in Brasília.

Without a mask, Bolsonaro also greeted people crowded over the protective fence in the act in defense of his government. Thousands of people, many without protection (mask), gathered in front of the government headquarters.

COVID-19: João Dória, governor of São Paulo, the richest and most populous state of Brazil, decides to relax the quarantine starting June 1st

The resumption of some economic activities in the state of São Paulo as of June 1st, according to Governor João Dória, will be done gradually. Every 15 days the situation will be analyzed, in case of an increase in cases, new determinations on restrictions must be announced. Wearing masks and social detachment remains mandatory. Doria ruled out a lockdown in the coming weeks.

Dória was one of the main critics of the posture of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who defends the return of economic activities. With the decision, Dória gave up pressure from part of the State's economic and political power. The measure to relax the quarantine in the context of deaths by COVID-19, which is still increasing in several regions of the State of São Paulo and in several other Brazilian states, is, above all, a political decision.

With that, Dória intends to demonstrate that his administration was more efficient in combating the coronavirus crisis and in the deadline for the reopening of the economy than Jair Bolsonaro's presidency. With this, he intends to meet the demands of the Brazilian right and extreme right, which defend the total opening of the economy. Dória's plan is to position herself as a more technical administrator than Bolsonaro. However, despite all the discourse of respecting science, Dória is taking such measures for mainly political reasons.

São Paulo does not do enough tests to know exactly how the State is facing COVID-19, despite the nearly 4 million tests that would have been released. Doria, therefore, will reopen São Paulo in the winter, at a time when the State is also facing an increase in the number of H1N1 cases.

Crisis: Brazil closes more than one million formal jobs in April and March 2020, according to Caged

Information released today by the New General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged), of the Minsitério do Trabalho do Brasil, points to a drastic drop in the number of hires in the country was the main responsible for the negative balance of formal jobs in the first four months of 2020 in Brazil. 1,1 million formal jobs were closed in Brazil in March and April 2020, according to figures from the General Register of Jobs and Unemployed (Caged) released today by the Ministry of Economy.

In April of 2019, Caged had a positive balance of 129,601 formal jobs, resulting from 1,374,628 admissions and 1,245,071 dismissals. In the same month in 2020, there were 598,596 hires and the number of dismissals reached 1,459,099, generating a negative result of 860,503 vacancies closed.

According to the newspaper O Globo, this result is, "by far, the worst data for job creation in Brazil since 1992, when the Caged historical series began. Before, the worst data had been recorded in 1992, when the country closed 142 thousand jobs in those two months".

These frightening figures show the impact of the pandemic, the current and profound national political crisis, and the complete lack of direction of the federal government, which has been going for two weeks without a Health Minister in the midst of a health crisis without precedent. Thus, the Brazilian labor market suffers one of the strongest strokes in the country's history.

The Brazilian financial market shows how much it is a segment that is completely detached from the reality of the country by simply disregarding the disastrous conduct of Bolsonaro's government in the fight against COVID-19 and the country's unprecedented political crisis

The disclosure of the video of the ministerial meeting in which President Jair Bolsonaro and several of his ministers committed, according to several jurists, crimes, including defending the arrest of ministers of the Supreme Court, was positively received by the Brazilian financial market.

As I had already written here, on August 27, 2019, by "betting on a possible liberal agenda of the then-the financial market was one of the biggest supporters of Jair Bolsonaro's candidacy".  

After the election, the Brazilian financial market has completely disregarded the fact that Bolsonaro's "government was largely unable to organize and lead the political debate around a reformist agenda. In fact, the statements of Bolsonaro and Guedes did more harm than good in assisting the approval work of the Social Security Reform. The main architect of this reform was the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, who at various times collided with Bolsonaro and even Paulo Guedes".

This assessment, completely mistaken in my view, continues today amid the chaos caused by COVID-19 and the political catastrophe of the crises that surround the current government, which no longer hides its anti-democratic intentions. The market continues to understand that the fact that Economy Minister Paulo Guedes is considered a strong name in the government is a positive thing. The problem is that Guedes, who is a liberal with an agenda considered outdated even by liberal economists like Monica de Bolle, will be forced now to adopt policies that he has been opposed to for a lifetime.

Several financial market analysts believe the Environment Minister's calling for environmental deregulation while public distracted by COVID and Guedes saying that the suspension of server readjustments is "grenade in the enemy's pocket", during this meeting, are the representation of liberal values!

This represents how ideological the assessment that a large part of the Brazilian financial market makes of the current government, which obviously undermines immensely a pragmatic analysis of what is really happening to the Brazilian economy.

Of the meeting that was released by the courts, only the attacks on China by members of the government, including the president himself, concern part of the Brazilian financial market.

Celso de Mello decides to release video of the ministerial meeting of the government of Jair Bolsonaro

Minister Celso de Mello, of the Supreme Federal Court, decided to release the video of the ministerial meeting on April 22, which was quoted by former judge Sérgio Moro in his testimony to the Federal Police.

The content of the meeting is already available on the STF website, but the Supreme Court website is unstable, perhaps due to the huge traffic to access the content of the explosive determination.

Deforestation in the Amazon, in April 2020, is the highest in the last 10 years; number of COVID-19 cases grows among Indigenous peoples

The deforestation area in the Amazon rainforest increased by 171% in April 2020 compared to the same month in 2019. Of this area, one-third of the entire area is concentrated in the state of Pará.

According to Anfavea (National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers), crawler tractors, the main instrument of deforestation in the Amazon, between January and April 2020 set a sales record for the last 5 years. Therefore, deforestation continues to enrich various sectors of the Brazilian economy, who work illegally or take advantage of the current government's lack of supervision to destroy the forest and earn money from it. Some of the tractors used in deforestation can cost up to one million reais.

Jair Bolsonaro's government, since its beginning in 2019, has been trying to hinder the destruction of machines learned during Ibama operations (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).

In total, in April 2020, 529 km² were deforested. The data are from Imazon's Deforestation Alert System (SAD). Ten municipalities were responsible for more than half of deforestation in the Amazon in April. Altamira and São Félix do Xingu, in Pará, and Apuí, in Amazonas, are at the top of that list.

Indigenous people

At least 23 Indigenous people died as a result of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. Several associations and representatives of the original peoples have, since the arrival of the virus in the country, been warning about the degree of vulnerability of Indigenous communities across the country.

The destruction of the forest also affects the Yanomami and Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Lands, in the Amazon. They are among the most deforested and also appear among the most vulnerable to Covid-19, according to a survey by ISA (Instituto Socioambiental).

Jair Bolsonaro's government deepens chaos by acting against social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Almost every Sunday, Brasilia becomes the stage of even more crazy manifestations of support for the Bolsonaro government. Every Sunday, these demonstrations and the president follow the same script, are inconsequential and irresponsible for not respecting social distance and attacking democracy. Meanwhile, Brazil surpassed the 16 thousand dead by COVID-19 yesterday.

In the middle of it all, according to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), unemployment increased in 12 Brazilian states in the first quarter of 2020.

To make matters worse, practically every Pro-Bolsonaro demonstration a journalist is attacked by the crowd who defends, among other things, the return of the Dictatorship, the end of social isolation and the widespread use of chloroquine in the fight against COVID-19, which is discouraged by experts and has already resulted in the resignation of two ministers of Health in Brazil.

According to Oliver Stuenkel, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in São Paulo, Pro-Bolsonaro protesters gathering yesterday in Brazilia "in front of the presidential palace do not amount to more than a handful of far-right crazies".

In addition, other members of the government, such as Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, say absurd things like the promise that Brazil would do 40 million monthly tests for COVID-19, which obviously has not happened so far and everything indicates that it will not happen. Guedes said this at the beginning of April and so far nothing.

The latest scandal is now a complaint, published by Folha de S. Paulo, according to which Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Jair Bolsonaro, would have been warned in advance about a federal police operation against Fabrício Queiroz and that involved the president and his family. After the request of the PGR (Attorney General's Office), businessman Paulo Marinho, who reported the leak, will testify.

The son of Bolsonaro and future senator of the Republic Flávio Bolsonaro was informed of the existence of the investigation between the first and second rounds of the 2018 presidential elections that elected Jair Bolsonaro.

Nelson Teich, Minister of Health of Brazil, resigns in the middle of the pandemic

Following what happened to Health Minister Henrique Mandetta. Nelson Teich, the Minister of Health of Brazil, who took over after Mandetta left, resigns in the middle of the pandemic due to the behavior of Jair Bolsonaro, who does not follow science and public policies defended by the medical and health organizations like WHO and Fiocruz and his ministers, Mandetta and Teich.

Teich was only a month in office. A few days ago, he was surprised by measures taken by Jair Bolsonaro, such as reopening barbershops, hair salons, and fitness centers. He learned of this measure during a press conference by journalists.

Before quitting, Teich sought out hospitals and universities to update himself on the use of chloroquine. He heard from doctors and researchers that it is not recommended to use this medicine in the initial phase of COVID-19, as Bolsonaro insists. He preferred to stay with science than with the government.

COVID-19 takes down Brazilian industrial production

According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) today, the coronavirus pandemic led to the fall of industrial activity in the country from February to March. This is what the Regional Monthly Industrial Survey points out. It is the first time in eight years that all 15 surveyed locations have retreated. The closest to this result occurred in May 2018, with the truckers' strike, which brought down industrial production in 14 of the 15 locations.

According to a survey carried out in partnership by the Brazilian Institute of Economics, of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV / Ibre), and The Conference Board (TCB), Iace (Compound Background Indicator of the Brazilian Economy) fell 10.1% in April of 2020 in compared to March of the same year. The index fell from 112.6 to 101.2 points, the biggest drop in the historical series started in 1996.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's speech on national network scares investors

According to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, President Jair Bolsonaro's speech distorted the global scenario about Covid-19. According to the newspaper, the president "criticized the closure of schools and commerce, contradicted guidelines from health agencies and attacked governors".

For Alexandre Almeida, from CM Capital, the statement by President Jair Bolsonaro may scare investors because of his lack of connection with reality.

These statements immediately provoked repudiation by congressmen, governors, in the Judiciary and in different sectors of society. A few minutes later, the president of the Brazilian Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, released an official note stating that "Brazil needs serious leadership, responsible and committed to the life and health of the population".

The president's speech is the main subject of Brazilian newspapers today: O Estado de S. Paulo states that Bolsonaro criticizes confinement and wants stores and schools open; O Globo publishes that Bolsonaro ignores the world orientation and criticizes isolation and closed schools; Correio Braziliense reports that speech caused perplexity.

Federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of President Jair Bolsonaro, becomes the center of a diplomatic crisis, after publicly blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic; allies of the Brazilian president distance themselves and Bolsonaro and he could suffer impeachment, according to Senator Major Olímpio

Since Thursday (19.03.2020), the Chinese Embassy in Brazil and Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro have been harshly accusing each other on social media. The Embassy of China even published a Twitter saying that the parliamentarian's speech is “absurd and prejudiced”. It all started after Eduardo blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic. The president's son blamed the Chinese government and compared Covid-19 to the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

In Brazil, Eduardo Bolsonaro's speech was widely criticized by the media, by Brazilian citizens (on Twitter) and even by Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourão said that Eduardo Bolsonaro's criticisms of China do not represent the government's position.

However, it is impossible to dissociate Eduardo's speech from Jair Bolsonaro's ideas. The relationship between the current president of Brazil with China has always been very complicated. During the presidential campaign, in 2018, Bolsonaro even said that China should buy Brazilian products and not "buy Brazil". Then, in 2019, during a visit to China, Bolsonaro said he was visiting a "capitalist country". Now, a member of the Bolsonaro clan decides to enter diplomatic conflict with Brazil's largest trading partner. In 2019, the trade balance with the Asian country had a surplus of another 30 billion dollars: Brazil exported 65.3 billion dollars, and imported 35.8 billion dollars.

Isolated government

According to the Congresso em Foco website, "President Jair Bolsonaro is losing support in the National Congress and in Brazilian society. Surrounded by daily national demonstrations, he is increasingly isolated.

In an exclusive interview with Congresso em Foco, a faithful ally to the president, the leader of the PSL in the Senate, Major Olimpio (SP), "says that decisive segments for the election of Bolsonaro in 2018, such as agribusiness, public security professionals and evangelicals, represented by the most influential benches in Congress, are distancing themselves from the president because of dissatisfaction with his government. Investors, he notes, also do not feel safe to bet on the country, due to the political instability created almost always by the president himself and your children".