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Anti-government demonstrations broke out in several Brazilian cities on Sunday as President Jair Bolsonaro suffers growing backlash against his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Protesters carrying signs in defense of democracy and against racism gathered in Brazil’s largest cities despite medical recommendations of social distancing, many encouraged by U.S. demonstrations that followed the death of George Floyd. Pro-Bolsonaro marches also took place in some cities, in smaller numbers.
As the number of deaths from Covid-19 soars and Brazil becomes a global hotspot for the virus, the government faced increased criticism over the weekend when it decided to limit the amount of data published about the pandemic. In response, health secretaries from all Brazilian states began compiling and releasing their own numbers for total cases and deaths from Covid-19.
In Sao Paulo, protesters paid tribute to Floyd and Marielle Franco, a Brazilian councilwoman and black activist who was murdered two years ago in Rio de Janeiro. Demonstrations were mostly peaceful, although a small group clashed with the police late on Sunday. In Brasilia, Bolsonaro greeted supporters in front of the presidential palace, but unlike in previous weekends, didn’t join those who rallied in his defense and against quarantines imposed by state governors.
The former Army captain, who has described the coronavirus as just a “little flu,” has repeatedly clashed with governors, calling on Brazilians to resume work and avoid an economic catastrophe he considers worse than the virus. After two health ministers left their post since the beginning of the pandemic, he put a military general in charge of the ministry.
Bolsonaro’s press office initially justified the ministry’s decision to change the release Covid-19 by saying the total number of deaths and cases wasn’t a picture of the moment as they “didn’t show that most of the population no longer suffered from the illness.” Later on Sunday, however, the ministry resumed the publication of historic data using a new accounting methodology.
Yet confusion about the numbers continued. After initially reporting 1,382 deaths from the virus over the past 24 hours, the ministry published a smaller number on its website: 525. It didn’t reply to requests for comment.
By any measure, Brazil has more than 685,000 cases and over 36,000 deaths from Covid-19. It trails the U.S. in number of cases, and the U.S. and the U.K. in deaths.
