At time of committal to writing , Brazil has stick out more than 600,000 death from COVID-19 . That is a genuinely judgement - boggling phone number of people , so if it helps , you’re able to think of it as almost one Memphis , TN .
Now , a congressional inquiry , which has contact its ending after a six - month - farsighted investigation into the Brazilian government ’s management of the pandemic , has laid the blame for this catastrophe squarely at the human foot of some of the highest levels of government – with the President , far - correct populist Jair Bolsonaro , no exception . A account from the investigation commend that the anti - vaxx foreland of state should be charged with crimes against humanity for his treatment of the pandemic , which the panel says was marked bycorruption and disinformation .
The written report , excerpts of which were see by theNew York Timesahead of its scheduled release this calendar week , also recommends felonious charge against dozen of others – 70 people in total , including Bolsonaro , three of Bolsonaro ’s sons , and numerous current and former government functionary . The President is face nine charges against him in person , with accusations of document forging and incitement to crime accompanying the electric charge of crimes against humanness .
“ Many of these death were preventable , ” centrist senator and lead author of the account Renan Calheiros severalize the New York Times . “ I am personally convinced that [ Bolsonaro ] is responsible for escalating the slaughter . ”
The report criticizes Bolsonaro ’s “ unfounded belief in the idea of herd immunity through raw contagion ” – a impression which has led some commentator to propose the leader wasactively aiming for 1.4 million deathsin the country . An former selective service of the reputation recommended additional charges against the Brazilian President of mass homicide and genocide of autochthonal groups in the Amazon – an area where the COVID-19 crisis bet out like “ a complete massacre,”according to local health workers . After several senators protest , however , these flush were removed .
“ In spitefulness of all the vaccines that were on offer , the federal government opted not to buy them , a decision that went against all of the scientific study which demonstrated their safety and effectiveness , and against the advice of all of the epidemiologists who declared on a daily basis that only vaccines would save lifetime , ” reads the report .
“ The determination not to acquire vaccines between the calendar month of July 2020 and at least January 2021 , which miss any technical or scientific basis , and flew in the face of recommendations from international wellness authority , finish up claiming the living of K of Brazilians who would doubtless have made use of such vaccines . ”
That Brazil would be remove this hard by the pandemic was not a foregone decision : the body politic has , in the past times , won international praisefor its reply to public health crisis . With COVID-19 , however , Brazil has rather caught the globe ’s attention as astark warning , with accusations ofcorruption and prevaricationrife against the country’snotoriously anti - sciencegovernment . Bolsonaro repeatedlydownplayedthe sincerity of the disease , labeling COVID-19 simply “ a measly cold ” as it raged through Brazilian infirmary and favelas . Safe and effective vaccine , meanwhile , were “ idiotic ” and “ experimental ” discourse that risked turn the body politic into a nation ofanimorphs – sick Brazilians should rather bank onun- or disproven drugslike Plaquenil andivermectin , Bolsonaro said . Those interested about the virus ’s deadly toll he separate to blockade “ fussing and snivel ” ; those who questioned him about it hechastised for being boring .
“ These have been times of hungriness , mourning , death and unemployment , with millions of people in need . It is the greatest crisis of my propagation – and the president did n’t even show empathy , ” Antônio Carlos Costa , a social activist and church leader who hand grounds to the COVID inquiry on Monday , toldThe Guardian .
“ I hope this country will never again be order in the way it has been govern by Bolsonaro , ” he said .
Whether the President will actually face these commission , however , is far from certain . The committee behind the write up is due to vote on the recommendation next calendar week , and while seven of the 11 - strong panel reportedly agree on the report , Bolsonaro has some cardinal friend that can stymie the charges – in one in particular strange bend , one of the panel is not only Bolsonaro ’s Word but also face condemnable boot in the report .
Nevertheless , the recommendations will be unwished-for news program for a prexy whose popularity isalready faltering . The congressional enquiry , with itsdramatic and scandalousrevelations , has becomemust - see TVover the past six months , and the body politic has seennationwide protestsagainst Bolsonaro and his anti - science position .
“ [ O]ne matter ’s for sure , ” Costa told The Guardian . “ [ T]he impairment to his repute is irreversible . ”
