Friday, March 29

Brazil

Brazil Right Wins Parliamentary Seats Despite Bolsonaro Loss
Brazil, News

Brazil Right Wins Parliamentary Seats Despite Bolsonaro Loss

A strong election night for allies of right-wing populist president Jair Bolsonaro has given his party the most seats in both houses of parliament. For example, Bolsonaro's Liberal Party (PL) won 99 additional seats in the 513-member lower house, meaning right-wing parties with ties to Bolsonaro now control half of the body. The biggest surprise in Sunday's vote was in the Senate, where Bolsonaro's party won 13 of the 27 available seats. The right has also gained ground at the state level, including in races for governorships. However, the first round of the presidential election went to Bolsonaro's left-wing rival Luiz InĂ¡cio Lula da Silva, Lula for short. But the difference between him and the incumbent president was smaller than expected. With 98 percent of the vote counte...
Brazilian President Bolsonaro Calls Journalists Dirty From the Streets
Brazil, News

Brazilian President Bolsonaro Calls Journalists Dirty From the Streets

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro lost his composure during a press conference on Monday. He told a journalist to shut up and labelled media group Globo, Brazil's largest media conglomerate, "poop".   "Shut up! You are assholes. You do rotten journalism. It's useless. You are destroying the Brazilian family, the Brazilian religion," the president shouted out of his mind at a journalist from TV Globo, who had asked him a question about wearing a mouth mask. In particular, the journalist reminded the president that he was fined in several Brazilian states for participating in demonstrations without a mask. "I go where I want and how I want, okay? If you don't want to wear a mask, don't wear one," he said, then brusquely ripped off his mask. "Look, put this in your television news: ...
High Corona Figures: Bolsonaro is Guilty of the Greatest Genocide in Our History
Brazil, News

High Corona Figures: Bolsonaro is Guilty of the Greatest Genocide in Our History

Brazilian former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (75) thinks his successor Jair Bolsonaro should apologize for his management of the corona crisis.   In an interview published today in the German weekly Der Spiegel, Lula even blames the head of state for "the greatest genocide in Brazil's history." On Tuesday, 3,158 people died of Covid-19 in Brazil. It is the greatest genocide in our history," said Lula. "Our attention should not be drawn to next year's elections, but to the fight against the coronavirus and the vaccination of the population. We have to save Brazil from Covid-19." President Bolsonaro has been downplaying the situation since the start of the pandemic. Four days ago, he went a step further. In a short televised address, he defended his government's approach an...
Second Minister Resigns After President Brazil’s Chloroquine Ultimatum
Brazil, News

Second Minister Resigns After President Brazil’s Chloroquine Ultimatum

For the second time in barely a month, a health minister died in Brazil after disagreements with President Bolsonaro about tackling the corona crisis.   Minister Nelson Teich has resigned this morning, his department announced. The room for manoeuvre for Teich had become minimal after Bolsonaro instructed him to release the controversial drug chloroquine this week to treat corona patients with mild complaints. The current Brazilian protocol only prescribes the drug in the treatment of severe cases. Bolsonaro has been a strong proponent of chloroquine since the beginning of the corona outbreak in Brazil. He has touted it several times in his live videos on Facebook, and early on ordered military production centres to significantly increase production. The president now wants to ...