Bolsonaro
Majority of Brazilians support impeaching President Bolsonaro, poll shows
For the first time, a majority of Brazilians support impeaching President Jair Bolsonaro, according to a poll released on Saturday, as serious graft allegations related to vaccine procurement hit the right-wing leader’s already battered image. According to the survey by Datafolha, 54% of Brazilians support a proposed move by the country’s lower house to open impeachment proceedings against Bolsonaro, while 42% oppose it. In the last Datafolha survey on the issue, released in May, supporters and opponents of impeachment were essentially tied. In a separate Datafolha poll, released on Thursday, 51% of Brazilians said they disapproved of Bolsonaro, the highest figure since he took office in January 2019. In recent weeks, Brasilia has been rocked by allegations that federal officials solicited...
Brazilian potential presidential candidate announces he is gay
Brazilian governor and potential major party presidential candidate Eduardo Leite, a prominent critic of President Jair Bolsonaro, came out as gay in a TV interview. Leite, governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, would be the first openly gay presidential candidate in Brazil. Anti-gay rhetoric has been a staple of speeches by Bolsonaro, who once declared that if he had a gay son, he would rather the child died in an accident. “I have never spoken about a subject related to my private life,” Leite told Brazilian journalist Pedro Bial in a TV interview on Thursday evening. “But during this moment of low integrity in Brazil, I have nothing to hide, I am gay. I am a governor who is gay, not a gay governor, as former President Obama in the US was a president who was Black, not a Bl...
Brazilian president fined for not wearing mask
Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, has been fined for not wearing a mask as he joined thousands of motorcyclists at a rally in Sao Paulo. Bolsonaro waved from his bike to the cheering crowd as he used the occasion to insist masks were useless for vaccinated people. The rally snaked in and out of the city, arriving back at Ibirapuera Park, where the far-right leader addressed supporters and said mask-wearing for vaccinated people was pointless. However, President Bolsonaro’s claim has been disputed by most health experts. “Whoever is against this proposal is because they don’t believe in science, because if they are vaccinated, there is no way the virus can be transmitted,” said Bolsonaro. Under 12% of Brazilians have had both doses of a vaccine, the ministry of health says, and many expe...
Brazil federal prosecutor appeals decision to annul Lula da Silva’s convictions
The office of Brazil’s prosecutor general on Friday appealed a Supreme Court judge’s ruling earlier this week that annulled the criminal convictions of former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. If successful, the appeal could close the door on the popular politician running in next year’s presidential election, which had become a reality after Monday’s surprise decision by Justice Edson Fachin. Two opinion polls published on Friday, the first since Lula’s convictions were annulled, showed that President Jair Bolsonaro is still favored to win the 2022 election but his advantage has shrunk, and one said 61% do not approve of his handling of the pandemic that has taken 270,000 lives. The survey for Exame business news magazine by pollster Ideia found that Bolsonaro would win a run-o...
Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro hopes Donald Trump wins
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday he hoped Donald Trump would come out ahead in the down-to-the-wire US election, lashing out at Democratic contender Joe Biden’s comments on protecting the Amazon rainforest. The far-right leader, who has been dubbed a “Tropical Trump,” has cultivated a close relationship with the Republican president, and has not been shy about endorsing his bid for reelection. “You know where I stand, I’ve been clear. I have a good relationship with Trump. I hope he’ll be reelected,” Bolsonaro told supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia. He denied backing Trump amounted to “interference” in US affairs, saying, “Who are we to interfere anyway?” “How do you want me to interfere? Economically? Militarily? A cyber attack?” he joked. Turning to ...
Brazilian president’s son contracts coronavirus
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, said Tuesday he has tested positive for the new coronavirus but was asymptomatic. The 39-year-old senator’s office said in a statement he was “feeling fine,” isolating at home and taking the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, which his father has aggressively pushed as a treatment for COVID-19 despite studies finding it is ineffective against the virus. Known for his staunch support of his father, the younger Bolsonaro is under investigation for an alleged embezzlement scheme when he was a state lawmaker for Rio de Janeiro. He is the fourth member of the presidential family to test positive for the virus. Bolsonaro himself, 65, caught it last month, forcing the far-right leader, a fierce critic of lockdown measures agai...
