• In #SaoPaulo there is this area were many crack addicts get together to use this and other drugs. It's a skid row, it's called #Cracolandia ('Crackoland'). Despite all the governor's and mayor's virtual signaling, nothing's been done there to prevent agglomeration. You see no police officers dispersing or arresting people there; no social workers, no volunteer doctors and nurses,... #covid #doria
• The #SupremeCourt (#STF) already got the majority of the judge-ministers to agree on renewing the power of the states to decide over their health measures regardless of the gov't recommendations. Only one judge-minister hasn't declared his side yet, #KassioNunes, appointed by #Bolsonaro. The president was hopeful that the STF would not renew the states' autonomy. #pandemic
• A city called #Guaraciaba, #SantaCatarina, is considering mandating #COVID infected (or suspected) people to wear a wrist band so they can be easily identified and kept from crowding places. If this idea goes ahead, citizens will also be encouraged to inform on people who go out without their wrist band.
• The State of #RioGrandedoSul entered phase black until the 21st, and during this time only essential products can be sold on supermarkets. Some widely circulated photos show a supermarket with carts and barricade tapes blocking certain aisles. #covid
• #RiodeJaneiro's mayor #EduardoPaes is going for a new #lockdown, and now his order says that bars and restaurants must be closed after 5pm. The association of this kind of business predicts 1 thousand people will be losing their jobs for every week they are closed.
• “ESSENTIAL SERVICE IS ANY ONE THAT'S NEEDED FOR THE BREADWINNER OF THE FAMILY TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE!” President #Bolsonaro on #Twitter.
• The Dept (Ministry) of Education sent a letter to universities saying that political manifestations by professors will result in notifications and can lead to punishments. In response, 25 regional attorneys offices sent a letter to the Citizen Rights' Attorneys Office asking it to reinforce and clarify the need to respect #freedomofexpression, even inside educational institutions and when expressed by faculty members.
• The #COVID relief bill was approved by the #Senate, and if the spending doesn't surpass 44 billion reals, it won't be subjected to strict fiscal rules. On the other hand, the gov't was able to add new fiscal regulations for future general spending in this bill. Apparently, the strategy was, “here's 44 billion for you to make your party, as long as this is the last one.” Will it work?
• Last year, #Bolsonaro's first reaction to the news of cities and states and companies forcing the vaccination was, “MANDATORY VACCINATION, ONLY OVER MY DEAD BODY!” Now, the gov't is buying a lot of vaccine doses, and it won't take longer until there are enough vaccines for the whole population. Will Bolsonaro still do anything to prevent people from being forced to take the vaccine? #covid
• The Attorneys Office of the State of #Goias issued a letter saying that they are for the use of #hydroxychloroquine and #ivermectin for #COVID prevention. Attorneys Offices have been criticized for not expressing or taking too long to express their position regarding this and governors' and mayors' #abuseofpower by sending the police to arrest law-abiding citizens and to shut down businesses.
• #SaoPaulo governor #Doria ordered 14 more days of lockdown. His #COVID Contingency Center secretary said that it should be “at least” that number. São Paulo's secretary of health, on the other hand, is not in agreement with Dória's decision and said, “WITH THE LOCKDOWN, PEOPLE WILL DIE OF HUNGER.” In #Bahia, the governor extended the lockdown (and curfew) till April 1st. Regarding to new and to the extending of lockdowns and curfews, #Bolsonaro said, “IF I HAVE THE POWER TO DECIDE, I HAVE MY OWN PLAN AND IT'S READY TO BE PUT IN PLACE, BUT I NEED TO HAVE THIS AUTHORITY. [...] IF THE #SUPREMECOURT (#STF) UNDERSTANDS THAT THE MANAGEMENT OF THIS CAN FALL INTO THE GOV'T'S HANDS, [...] I AM READY TO PUT MY PLAN IN PLACE.” Curiously (and tragically), São Paulo is not increasing the quantity of buses, and train and subway cars in order to allow for proper social distancing.
• #Brazil's GDP fell 4.1% during the #pandemic, being the most negative since 1996. The result, though, was better than what the #IPEA predicted (5%), #XPInvestments predicted (6%), the #OECD predicted (6%), and the #IMF predicted (9.1%). Compared to some other countries, Brazil did worse than the #UnitedStates (3.5%), for instance, but less worse than #Japan (4.8%), #Germany (5%), #France (8.2%), the #UnitedKingdom (9.9%), and #Spain (11%). Considering that Brazil has quite a precarious health system, that the #SupremeCourt (#STF) granted the states power to put health measures in place regardless of the gov't'l recommendations—thus leading many states and cities to go for lockdowns—and that many mayors and governors have been antagonizing the president by just doing to opposite in order to wear off #Bolsonaro's image, it did not do that bad. A poll by the media company #JovemPan asking who was the main responsible for this GDP fall—and got 35 thousand votes—shows that 96.8% believe it was mayors' and governors'. #covid #coronavirus
• Leftist comedian #DaniloGentili wrote in a tweet, “I WOULD ONLY BELIEVE THIS COUNTRY CAN BE SAVED IF THE POPULATION GOT INTO THE CONGRESS RIGHT NOW AND PUNCHED EVERY CONGRESSPERSON THAT'S DISCUSSING [IN FAVOR OF] THE [SPEECH] IMMUNITY BILL.” Some congresspeople, seeing the chance to put the #SupremeCourt (#STF) on the wall due to its decision to arrest Congressperson #DanielSilveira for a #thoughtcrime, are demanding the STF orders Gentili's arrest. Judge-minister #AlexandredeMoraes, who alone decided for Silveira's arrest, asked the Attorney-General #AugustoAras (appointed by #Bolsonaro) for his word on this matter. Moraes might be trying to dilute his responsibility and raise animosity in Congress, since Aras' support for Gentili's arrest will please some groups in Congress and angry others, and if he goes against it, it will please and anger opposite sides.
• A police commissioner who cooperated with the #LavaJato operation was processed and eventually punished when he denounced that some of the Lava Jato investigative tactics were illegal. This commissioner, #MarioFanton, accused the operation of illegally wiretapping and of covering another Lava Jato commissioner, ErikaMarena, who forged a testimony. Marena is one of the responsibles for ordering the illegal wiretappings. And, #DeltanDallagnol, impressed and excited with the popularity #LavaJato commissioners and prosecutors were having, started discussing opening a company to make money giving lectures. In one of the leaked messages he wrote, “LET'S ORGANIZE CONFERENCES AND EVENTS, OK? THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR NETWORKING AND VISIBILITY.” [...] “BEFORE TAKING STEPS TO OPEN THIS COMPANY, WE SHOULD HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN AND A CLEAR VIEW OF EACH ONE'S EXPECTATIONS. FOR THE BUSINESS PLAN, WE SHOULD LOOK UP FOR THE LATEST EVENTS AND PRICES.” In another part, he explains that they'd better set up their company as an NGO institution and have a professional company organize the events and charge for the lectures, so they could receive the money in a different way, thus avoiding legal questionings and the negative repercussion with the public.

• The mayor of the State of #SaoPaulo, #JoaoDoria, wants luxury cars seized by the police to be used as police cars. Some people have expressed disapproval for the idea of stopping selling luxury cars in auctions and start spending money on maintaining them as police cars. A regular luxury car, which, on average, has a lower mileage, is already very expensive to maintain, and there is also the higher expense to make any adaptations to the car, since it will be done on demand.
• The mayor of #Florianopolis, #GeanLoureiro, decided to have spend some vacation time in #Cancun, and while he was there he decided to restart a #lockdown period, and that's when his trip became big news. After getting back, he apologized for the trip. He wrote he needed some vacation and he thought having online meetings would be enough to make up his physical absence. He said he couldn't get back sooner because he had to wait for a COVID test result in order to fly and because he had a hard time to reschedule his flight for sooner.
• Despite the fact that the #pandemic resulted in a lot of businesses losing revenue or closing, thus cities and states seeing their tax revenue go down dangerously, these ones finished 2020 with 94% more money on average. The only explanation for this, so far, is the billions and billions in relief money they have received from the gov't. What could be behind this lack of expenses in such a time so many people are in need of material and financial support while they are, on average, generating less money in taxes? #corruption #covid
• The 46th Independent Military Police Campaign of the State of #Bahia posted a photo of a bag with 5 long neck bottles of beer inside, saying it was seized from a citizen who was seen outside during the period of #curfew and taken to the police station. Many people expressed outrage, since Bahia has one of the highest (real) crime rates in Brazil and they found disgusting the fact that a highly trained police was proud enough of such an arrest to show it on Instagram.
• The Medicine Regional Council of [the State of] #DistritoFederal (#CRM) published a one-page letter titled “PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT AGAINST THE #LOCKDOWN,” and the first paragraph starts with, “THE CRM-DF IS AGAINST THE LOCKDOWN AS AN EFFECTIVE MEASURE FOR THE CONTROL OF SARS-COV-2.” #covid

• A video of a street vendor being approach by the military police and being put into the trunk of a police car Thursday night in #Bahia went viral. He was not supposed to be out at that time due to the #curfew. He said he lost the last bus and no more buses had come since then. At a certain moment, one of the officers forcibly approaches him and puts him in the trunk of the police vehicle while the vendor says, “DON'T HURT ME!” What's shocking about the video is that the officer's approach is nearly the same as if approaching a criminal, which very much makes you believe the guy is a criminal (if you didn't know the context). Another thing that worries is the fact that another officer, when he realizes there's someone recording it, approaches the person and says, “IF THIS GENTLEMAN IS BEING FILMED [BY YOU] YOU'RE GOING TO BE A WITNESS. COME ON [WITH US].” #covid #covid19 #coronavirus #abuseofpower
• The #Senate approved a bill that authorizes private companies to buy vaccines. It's now headed to the #Congress. If it passes, President #Bolsonaro may veto it because the bill removes the responsibility for side effects of the #vaccine from the makers and put it in the government. #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• Some residents of the city of #Araraquara in the State of #SaoPaulo, which is under a full #lockdown period, have reported some food shortage and some price hike. #covid #covid19 #coronavirus #brazil
• Keeping the annoying and uncalled-for habit of giving interviews nonstop, one of the judge-ministers of the #SupremeCourt (#STF), #EdsonFachin, listed the seven symptoms of a corrupt democracy during an interview for the leftist, liberal, progressive, #FolhadeSaoPaulo (#Folha). They are [with comments], “REMILITARIZATION OF A CIVIL GOVERNMENT” [the military regime was the most stable and orderly period #Brazil had ever experienced in a long time, failed by the 'positivist' mindset and old-anti-#communism combat tactics, while the “civil” government that started in 1988 never made the country any better, so this argument per se doesn't say much], “INTIMIDATION [BY CALLS TO SHUT DOWN THE OTHER POWERS—#CONGRESS, #SENATE, AND #STF” [there was never a direct call to shut them down, but to the possibility of them being shut down due to their unconstitutional behavior, and since #Bolsonaro was elected, no actual attempt has been made and no plan to do so has ever been exposed], “MINIMIZATION OF THE VALUE OF VOTING” [the judge-ministers have been reacting positively to making the voting process even more digital, like voting by phone, which makes it even more prone to fraud, while #Bolsonaro, his allies, and his supporters support the opposite, walking toward more auditability, even if it means partially using paper], “ATTACKS AGAINST THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS” [it was the STF who censored a news outlet back on 2019, who ordered the arrest of a journalist twice in 2019 and 2020, who ordered the conservative site #TercaLivre to be mass suspended on social media platforms in 2021, who ordered the arrest of a congressman for a thought crime and also demanded all his social media accounts to be suspended in 2021; no such restricting actions were ever taken by the President #Bolsonaro; the most he has done was to harshly criticize the big old media, call them corrupt, unfair, evil, disgraceful], “ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE SALES OF WEAPONS AND THUS OF VIOLENCE” [violence in Brazil increased after the gun ban in 2005, and since #Bolsonaro was elected and a few of his pro-guns decrees passed, along with other measures, violence has decreased; also, violence numbers in countries were fire weapons are allowed don't support the judge-minister's reasoning], “NORMALIZING ADMINISTRATIVE AGENTS' CORRUPTION” [one of his administration's hallmark is the nearly total elimination of corruption, at least at the highest level] and “REFUSAL TO ACCEPT ELECTION RESULTS” [the president never refused to accept the elections' results, but expressed that if the vote can't be audited, fraud is possible].
• The tax over imported #fireweapons was going to be zero this year, but the judge-minister of the #SupremeCourt (#STF) #EdsonFachin issued an injunction order halting the decree. Another judge-minister commented that zeroing the tax and thus increasing the sales of fire weapons in #Brazil is a “RISK FOR THE STABILITY OF DEMOCRACY.” Once again, the STF ruling over things it shouldn't. #guns #gunsales #gunban #disarmament #selfdefense #fachin
• As of February 26th, the states that were imposing the lockdown were #Bahia, #DistritoFederal, #Maranhao, #Paraiba, #Pernambuco, #Piaui, #RioGrandedoSul, #Rondonia, and #SaoPaulo. Aside from the lockdown, these states' governors have another thing in common: They strongly oppose #Bolsonaro. #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• During a speech and while he was talking about the stronger #lockdown measures imposed by some governors, President #Bolsonaro said, “THE RELIEF CHECK WILL BE COMING FOR A COUPLE MORE MONTHS. THE GOVERNOR THAT DESTROYS JOBS SHOULD PAY FOR THE RELIEF CHECK. [...] THOSE WHO CLOSE EVERYTHING AND DESTROY JOBS ARE GOING AGAINST THE WISH OF THEIR PEOPLE.” #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• Writer and philosopher #OlavodeCarvalho is in hospital in the US with #pneumonia.
• Leaked messages exchanged by #LavaJato Operation prosecutors show that they had illegal access to the President #Bolsonaro family's personal information, including fiscal, right after he was elected. They laugh in several moments. The data was accessed by the COAF ('Council for Financial Activities Control') and the MP ('Public Ministry' or 'Prosecution Office'). #RobertoLeonel was in control of the COAF back then, he was assigned by #SergioMoro, and the latter got very upset when COAF was taken out of the control of his ministry by President Bolsonaro. #Leonel is behind the leaks from COAF, and he is referred in one of the messages by one prosecutor as “HE IS 1000.” 'To be 1000' is an expression that means a person helped someone else greatly; it's like saying, “He was so helpful that saying he was 100% helpful is not enough. Maybe 1000%?” #carwash #deltandallagnol #moro
• The city of #Buzios, in the State of #RiodeJaneiro, reached zero hospitalizations for #COVID. They bet strongly on prevention, not withholding themselves from making use of several medications that can possibly help avoid cases from getting too serious, like #ivermectin #hydroxychloroquine, vitamin D, zinc, etc. This example contrasts with other cities, where the number of too serious cases surpassed the number of hospital rooms. #covid19 #coronavirus
• Some #Brazil(ian) states and some cities in some states are going for a #curfew in order to stop or slow down the spread of the virus. According to the #Constitution, the curfew can only be allowed in two situations: State of Defense and State of Emergency. The State of Defense allows for the curfew in isolated areas, as long as there is a social unrest or a natural disaster that's big enough to result in lack of control by the local authorities. It can last 30 days and be extended for 30 more days. If the lack of control persists, then the State of Emergency is the next step. In this case, it allows for the curfew to be extended to areas where everything is apparently calm, and several constitutional rights are suspended, but in order for a curfew to start, the president (not a mayor or a governor) needs the #Congress' approval—this is to show you how extreme a curfew is. Beyond this point, the military intervention is the call. The virus and the rulings it has caused to be issued have resulted in all the rules regarding curfews being broken, in cities and states making decisions about putting it in place regardless of the government's direction. In other words, mayors and governors are breaking the Constitution, paving the way for a federal intervention; but, will there be? And, how long will unconstitutional actions continue to be taken for? #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• The #Congress is discussing a bill called [Speech] Immunity Bill. It has the purpose of clarifying where the limit of the #SupremeCourt (#STF) is when it comes to its power to warrant the arrest of a congressperson for a thought crime. In its original form, the bill made it clear only the Congress Ethical Counsel could apply a punishment, but some parties, like #PT, leftist, is critical of the bill for totally leaving the judiciary out of it. At least one congressman, the infamous and often ridiculed #KimKataguiri (another politician who did a great job pre-#Bolsonaro, campaigned for him and was elected in great part because of him, but ultimately flipped 180°), came to the point of asking the STF to interfere in the Congress' affairs by ordering that this bill be prohibited from even being discussed, and one judge-minister was already chosen to analyze this possibility. #freedomofspeech

The #STF (Brazilian #SupremeCourt) ruled that states can buy vaccines without the approval of the #ANVISA ('Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária,' or National Health Regulatory Agency), which is the Department of Health's branch responsible for giving the approval of safe use of any product or service that's related to health, produced in #Brazil or imported. Under this rule, the approval of a vaccine by the health agency of the country of origin will be enough.

Among the governors in favor of bypassing the gov't's agency, #SãoPaulo's Governor #JoãoDória has been the most vocal, prompting President #Bolsonaro to repeatedly say that no vaccination will be sold in Brazil without ANVISA's approval. The decision of the STF is another humiliation for Bolsonaro if he doesn't have any card under his sleeve.

It's important to note that not a single vaccine company from any country has ever asked ANVISA for authorization so far, which is suspicious.

And today the STF voted unanimously in favor of compulsory vaccination. One more humiliation for the president (again, if he doesn't have any card unde his sleeve) who publicly and repeatedly said that no Brazilian would be forced to take the vaccine.

Some judges said that nobody will be forced to take it if it means people going through any kind of embarrassment or humiliation, but there's a caveat. Private and public institutions and businesses will be allowed to demand that their employees, clients, and customers prove that they are vaccinated. For instance, an airline can demand passengers to show this proof in order to board the plane or buy a ticket, and a school can demand it in order to accept an enrollment.

#jairbolsonaro #dória #vaccine #vaccination #coronavirus #china #chinavirus #coronavac #covid #covid19 #pandemic

#SãoPaulo Governor #JoãoDória presses for the mandatory vaccination from #China besides #Bolsonaro repeatedly emphasizing that the gov't will not allow for a mandatory vaccine, citing China's and the #OMS' poor and suspicious handling of the #pandemic, the insuficiently tested and doubtful vaccine, and also citing Brazilian laws to justify his administration's position.

During an interview for #CNN yesterday, #Dória said, “We're going to wait 48 hours. If the gov't doesn't back down until Friday and doesn't do what what it has to do, support the vaccination, including the one from #Butantan [provided by China], we know what actions can be taken, either by São Paulo's or other governors, who are saddened and feeling frustrated.”

Dória is counting on other leftist governors and also on mayors, congresspeople, and senators; and also some political parties; to use the Article 196 of the #Constitution in order to push for an impeachment proceeding (one more Bolsonaro would face). The Article says:

“Health is a right for all citizens and it's a State duty to provide it, making sure there are social and economic policies aiming to reduced diseases and other severe illnesses, and to allow every citizen to have universal and equal access to prevention, protection, and recovery actions and services.”

Fortunately, the gov't has a good deal of evidence, studies, and numbers, from #Brazil itself and from other countries, to back up the position for not going for a mandatory vaccination. The gov't, at least based on what we've seen on social media, also counts with the support from the population. The group supporting a mandatory vaccination, as it seems for now, can mostly count on the dishonesty of judges and congresspeople and senators to acheive what they wish.

#jairbolsonaro #chinesevirus #covid #covid19 #coronavirus

#SãoPaulo's Governor #JoãoDória continues to move on with his antagonism toward the #Bolsonaro administration. During a press conference, #Dória said, “São Paulo is going to be vaccinated. I already made sure that the 45 million Brazilians will be vaccinated, and in São Paulo the vaccination will be mandatory, unless a citizen has a prescription from a doctor ordering otherwise. It's not conceivable that, in a pandemic, some be vaccinated and others not.”

This pandemic has brought perhaps the highest level of disagreeableness in modern history. Some of the reasons: 👉 While the numbers of infected and deaths of #COVID19 rose, the numbers of other diseases and sicknesses dropped proportionally; 👉 #China never allowed other nations to go there to help investigate the spread; 👉 The #WHO took long to make some obvious recommendations and changed others a couple of times, some of them being conflicting; 👉 A mask cannot totally keep the virus from spreading and, when used for a long period of time, can damage one's own health by increasing the inhale of material intended to be exhaled from the body; 👉 Small agglomerations were prohibited, with law-abiding citizens being sent to jail and treated rudely or violently, while police did nothing proportionally strong to end violent protests; 👉 The public transportation was partially interrupted, resulting in fewer buses and trains to get more crowded; 👉 The vaccination hasn't gone under the usual time of testing to be considered safe for a virus that is not even well understood.

On #Instagram, Bolsonaro reacted to #Dória's statement by posting about a law from this year that says that a vaccination to fight the #Chinesevirus could be mandatory, but also posted about a law from 1975 that says that the vaccination program is of the Department of Health's responsability, and that the local governments can only decide for a mandatory vaccination after a meeting with the DoH.

He finished by writing, “Besides the fact that the law says that the public administration can ask for a mandatory vaccination, my administration doesn't see the need for it neither will recommend the local governments to do so.”

“The DoH will offer a vaccination in a safe way and at the right moment, after being approved by the #ANVISA (our #FDA), but without demanding it to be taken mandatorily.”

#jairbolsonaro #coronavirus #covid #Brazil

#RiodeJaneiro's and #SãoPaulo's governors, #Witzel and #Dória, respectively, are being investigated in what has been popularly called #Covidão ('Big Covid').

Both of them were great #Bolsonaro supporters, but once Bolsonaro was elected, they turned their backs on him. After the pandemic started, their administrations have been accused of frauds and corruption schemes.

Dória, for instance, paid 45 million dollars ahead of time for a Chinese company to make 3,000 ventilators, but only 50 were delivered. Dória tried to solve the problem, renegotiating the contract, and the Chinese company promised to delived over 1,000 units quickly, but only 300 were, with the cost per unit increasing to around U$100,000 per unit. The contract was reviewed by investigators and it was found that there was no conditions for break of contract by the Chinese company. The contract was eventually terminated.

This scandal is at the state level, but there are scandals at city levels, including the City of São Paulo.

In Rio, the investigation is more advanced, and Witzel is temporarily away from his position as governor. The fraud and corruption scandals involving Witzel also involves several private businesses and religious institutions.

#saopaulo #covid #covid19 #coronavirus #chinesevirus

In 2019, all the 9 states of the northeastern region of #Brazil formed a consortium with the alleged intent to make big projects in the region less difficult to be carried out, less dependent on the gov't. This is not a problem. Consortiums of all sorts and at all levels are common practice and can greatly help develop a region in faster and more efficient way.

But, this consortium goes farther. It was made as an attempt to seek more independence from the #Bolsonaro administration due to differences in ideology, being the main proponent of the consortium a member of the PT Party, the same party of the two previous leftist administrations, #Dilma and #Lula.

But, still, being opposition per se is not a problem either. The problem is that the consortium never did anything since it started in mid 2019, even when an oil leak devastated beaches across the notheastern coast. Their first project started in February this year, when they signed a contract with a company to buy 300 ventilators for the price of about 10 million dollars.

The company they signed a contract with is called Hemp Care, a Brazilian company specialized in weed products, created less than 1 year prior to the contract and that had no expertise nor structure to produce the ventilators. Hemp Care even hired consulting companies to help them produce the ventilators, which were never delivered. Not a single one.

To make things worse, or absurd, several governors paid their share to the company ahead of time, before the contract was even signed.

This buy and the consortium are being investigated at the federal level. The governors have demanded that the investigation be made locally, but this is not possible since they used money the gov't made available through the virus emergency plan.

Some governors have been trying to give the money back (and use money from somewhere else) in order to move the case to their states.

#chinesevirus #coronavirus #covid #covid19