• #Mining in Brazil has increased 36% in 2020 compared to 2019, generating 72.2 billion reals in taxes.
• #Brazil has made official an agreement in the #WTO to allow Brazilian companies to compete for bidding contracts in 48 countries. #worldtradeorganization
• The mayor of #Niterói, State of #RiodeJaneiro, is doing what the “#conspiracytheorists” predicted it would start happening. #AxelGrael signed a law bill that mandates the #COVID19 #vaccination to all citizens, and whoever refuses to take it, will be fined for 'serious sanitary offense' and might be charged criminally and might lose the right to get any pandemic help from City Hall, which includes money and food aid. Anyone who wants to get the help must show vaccination proof. The author of the law is from the far left party #PSOL. Axel is brother of #IrmãosGrael (#Graelbrothers), #LarsGrael and #TorbenGrael, Olympic medalists in sailing. #coronavirus #chinesevirus #chinavirus #grael #olympics
• The gov't is considering sending out three more relief checks due to the #pandemic. This time, it should be directed to people who are informal workers and are not covered by the Bolsa Família ('Family Check, a welfare program), and the amount of each check should be between 200 and 300 reals. It should be called BIP, or Bônus de Inclusão Produtiva ('Productive Inclusion Bonus').

• The mayor of #Mirandópolis, #ÉvertonSodaro, stood up against a team of health professionals last night who were trying to make sure no businesses would stay open after 8pm. They were following #SãoPaulo Governor #Dória's #lockdown measures orders. The mayor made a dramatic appeal for the team to think about the jobs and businesses that are being lost after almost a year of tough restrictions, pointed out he and they have kept receiving their salaries throughout the lockdown period while regular citizens have not, he said that he has constantly been receiving people at #CityHall asking when the restrictions were going to loosen, some showing desperation, bravely urged them not to carry out illegal orders, and said that Mirandópolis has a mayor. This city has about 30 thousand inhabitants and only two #COVID19 cases. #JoãoDória #coronavirus #virusfromchina #chinavirus #chinesevirus #ccpvirus

#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