THE BRAZILIAN BOT

EuropeanUnion

  • #Congress voted 232-232 against the urgency of the bill that would allow the implementation of a vaccination passport. 257 votes were needed for it to be approved. When it was presented in the #Senate, in the beginning on June, the bill was approved 72-0. It is inspired on the one approved in the #EuropeanUnion. The vote was against the urgency for creating it, not against creating it. #pandemic #covid
  • President #Bolsonaro's ex-sister-in-law, #AndreaSiqueiraValle, disclosed an audio where she says that ex-office assistants paid part of their salaries back to Bolsonaro in return for the favor of giving them a job. This is a common crime pratice among Brazilian politicians. This allegedly happened during all his terms as congressman, from 1991 to 2018. The opposition is trying to form a committee to investigate the accusation. Senator #RenanCalheiros wants her to be heard on the #COVIDProbe ('#CPIdaCOVID') in order to know if this alleged scheme continued during the presidency. Evidence of this scheme prior to Bolsonaro becoming president is yet to be shown, so Calheiros subpoening her is, as of now, based on assumption rather than evidence.
  • President #Bolsonaro expressed his wish that the party he's going to choose to run in 2022 be composed of rightwing #Christians as most as possible, but the #PatriotParty, the one he's more inclined to join, is resistant to the idea. The #AliancapeloBrasil Party, the one that was conceived to embrace this formula, won't be legally ready in time. “THE PATRIOT IS A CENTER PARTY AND IT WILL ALWAYS BE,” stated its General-Secretary #JorcelinoBraga. The #BigCenter (#Centrao), an alliance of parties that claim not to be left or right, has shown to align themselves more with the left, based on the policies they defend, bills they propose and back, their politics, and their statements, so the 'center' claim is highly debatable. The Patriot Party's president, #AdilsonBarroso, stated, “IT'S A CENTER-RIGHT PARTY. IT'S NOT A RIGHTWING PARTY SO THAT NO ONE CAN SAY IT'S AN EXTREME RIGHTWING PARTY. NOBODY CAN SAY IT'S A RADICAL PARTY.” This statement seems to tell there's a mentality from top down that implies Bolsonaro and his allies and supporters are radicals, extremists. He goes on, “IT'S A PARTY ALSO COMPOSED BY PEOPLE WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT RIGHT AND LEFT. IT'S A PARTY THAT RECEIVES EVERYBODY.” This other one kind of nullifies the previous one, giving Bolsonaro no assurance he's going to have a party any better than the one he joined to ran in 2018, the #PSL, which got very devided right after he was elected, forcing him to leave it. The reason for the PSL's fiasco was the same lack of clarity on who they would allow to join them, but they can't be blamed fully because everything happened in a hurry. This time, Bolsonaro had more time to plan better what to demand from the party he's going to join, but although the situation now is better than in 2018, it's far from good enough as of this moment.
  • #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #RosaWeber authorized an investigation into if President #Bolsonaro prevaricated in the case of the #Covaxin vaccine (we covered this case on a previous date). According to lawyer, professor, and state congresswoman #JanainaPaschoal, Justice Weber is abusing of her power, since an investigation into prevarication could only take place if Bolsonaro had been criminalized for a wrongdoing, which he hasn't.
  • #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #CarmenLucia will decide if the president of the #Congress, Rep #ArthurLira, can be forced to “at least” analyze one of the impeachment requests against President #Bolsonaro.
  • The Federal Police indicted Senator #RenanCalheiros for receiving 1 million reals from the builder #Odebrecht during the time he was the president of the #Senate in order to help approve a bill that would benefit the company. The charges are passive corruption and money laundering. Calheiros is one of the members of the committee on the mismanagement of money during the #pandemic (#CPIdaCOVID, #COVIDProbe). People joke about Calheiros by saying he is a record breaker for number of dismissed charges. Will these latest two be?
  • The left went to the streets across the country to protest against the #Bolsonaro administration. The attendance was low in most places, but it was not bad in #SaoPaulo. There were acts of vandalism and violence. So much so that some of the big leftist media couldn't ignore, but they still found some way to minimize them. They avoided mentioning the rallies were in favor of the left and antigovernment, even though the images spoke for themselves (no Brazilian flags, a lot red, pro-#Lula's signs and Bolsonaro-as-a-genocide banners, hammer and sickle paintings, #BLM and #Antifa groups), kind of leaving for the reader that hadn't seen enough images to guess who these people were and, if they were a group, what group was. It couldn't be ignored as is usual because the Military Police of São Paulo tweeted updates on the rally constantly, and they showed the acts of vandalism, among them, spreading trash on the street, setting fire blockades, doing graffiti on bus stops, breaking windows and setting bank agencies on fire, breaking the windows of a #Hyundai car dealer. When it comes violence, subway guards were harassed, some police officers were attacked with molotov cocktails, one picture shows three to five police officers (the picture is not so clear) standing together and holding their shields to protect themselves from stones and garbage thrown at them, fireworks also thrown at them, a big rock thrown and hitting a police officer who had to receive help, protesters swinging bars at them. #PSDB, one of Brazil's biggest parties, condemned the violence and the vandalism, and stated that they reprove both extremisms. PSDB was the stablished opposition to the left between the re-democratization process in 1988 until Bolsonaro's election. In the last 3 years prior to him running, it started to become clear and to spread fast that PSDB has always been what #RINOs have in the #UnitedStates, so they took advantage of these violent rallies to claim they are moderate. We don't think many Brazilians are buying that. #DaniloGentili, a Brazilian comedian that supports the left, tweeted, “CONGRATS TO THE PROTESTERS FOR MAKING PRO-BOLSONARO PROPAGANDA,” referring to the fact that the violence and vandalism didn't weaken the public perception of him, but strengthened it. Bolsonaro tweeted, “NO ESCALATION OF [THE INTENT TO] AUTHORITARIANISM OR 'ANTIDEMOCRATIC' ACT WILL BE MENTIONED. NO ALERT TO A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY WILL BE MADE. NO SEARCHES AND NO ARRESTS WILL BE MADE. NO SECRECY WILL BE DISCLOSED. REMEMBER: IT HAS NEVER BEEN ABOUT HEALTH OR DEMOCRACY. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT POWER!” The protesters never did any social distancing. A news host on #GloboTV, the biggest TV network in Brazil, said on Sunday, “THE RALLIES WERE PEACEFUL ALL ACROSS BRAZIL. THERE ARE NO REPORTS OF CONFLICTS.” The #UniversityofMackenzie, in SP, a private institution known for provinding a good quantity of scholarships to people with no means, was also vandalized by the people who say they defend the disadvantaged. #CNNBrasil was criticized for their hypocrisy for posting about people not respecting social distancing in bars and restaurants in #RiodeJaneiro after spending a good deal of the Saturday until Sunday evening posting dozens of material about the rallies without ever criticizing their attendees for not doing social distancing.

  • Minister (Secretary) of Science, Technology, and Innovation #MarcosPontes signed Brazil's entry into the #ArtemisProgram. During US Ambassador #ToddChapman's speech, he told a curious story about aviation pioneer #SantosDumont. In his words, “IT'S WORTH REMEMBERING THAT SANTOS DUMONT NOT ONLY WAS A PIONEER IN AVIATION, BUT ALSO A PIONEER IN BRAZIL-#UNITEDSTATES COOPERATION. IN 1903, HE ALLOWED AN AMERICAN WOMAN, #AIDADEACOSTA, TO PILOT ONE OF HIS AIRSHIPS ALONE, HELPING HER BE THE FIRST WOMAN TO PILOT A POWERED AIRCRAFT.” The Artemis Program also seeks to take the first woman and the first black man to the moon.
  • Facial recognition technology is starting to be tested in some airports in Brazil. According to the Ministry (Department) of Infrastructure, the Brazilian law against the collection of personal data without a person's consent (#LGPD) will guarantee freedom to those who don't wish to use this system. #privacy

  • President #Bolsonaro said he will veto the vaccine certification in case it is approved in the Lower House. Guilherme #Fiuza, a commentator at #OsPingosNosIs radio and YouTube show, said, “LOOK, SOME ASK WHY SO MANY PEOPLE GO TO STREETS [IN SUPPORT] FOR THIS PRESIDENT, AND I HAVE A HYPOTHESIS. HE PRESENTS HIMSELF AS THE COSIGNER OF FREEDOM. I'M LOOKING AT THIS IN A COLD WAY. THE COSIGNER OF FREEDOM TODAY IS PRESIDENT BOLSONARO. WHEN THE LOCKDOWN WAS FOUND TO BE A GROSS MEASURE, DAMNING, AND WITHOUT EFFICACY IN KEEPING THE #PANDEMIC [FROM SPREADING], HE ROSE AGAINST THIS AND PROPOSED—I DON'T KNOW IF HE HAD AN ELABORATE PLAN, I THINK NOBODY HAS ONE—BUT, HE DENOUNCED THIS SUPPRESSION OF FREEDOM [...]. [THIS CERTIFICATION OF VACCINATION] WILL CREATE A SUBCITIZENSHIP FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T BE VACCINATED AND THOSE WHO HAVE THEIR REASONS TO DOUBT THE EFFICACY OF THE VACCINE. [...] IN OTHER WORDS, THAT ONE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE CARICATURE OF A DICTATOR IS THE VERY ONE THAT'S COSIGNING OUR FREEDOM, AND THE POPULATION SEES THIS.” #humanrights #pandemic #covid

  • In an interview to journalist Luís Ernesto #Lacombe, Minister (Secretary) of Human Rights, Family, and Women #DamaresAlves said she believes that President #Bolsonaro should not veto the vaccine certification in case it's passed in the Lower House (already passed in the Upper). He has said several times he'd be against any mandatory vaccination or the use of a vaccine certificate to be granted access to places, but Damares argued the vaccine being the most effective fight against the Chinese virus is a unanimous thinking in the science field around the world, and that the discussion hovers around its quality, not its necessity, but there's a contradiction here. If its quality is still worthy of discussion, why does she think Bolsonaro should not veto it? #humanrights #pandemic #covid

  • #ABRASEL (Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants) started a class action in 275 cities across all Brazilian states demanding financial reparations from cities and states due to lockdowns put in place during the #pandemic. #covid

  • The #Senate approved by 72 to 9 a bill called Immunization and Sanitary Safety Certification, some sort of #vaccinationpassport, which grants access to cultural and sport events, and to travel to natural parks and with companies that demand their passengers to be vaccinated, all in accordance to the guidelines of the #EuropeanUnion's #DigitalGreenCertificate, also known as #DigitalCOVIDCertificate or #EUDCC. The bill will now head to the House of Representatives. If approved, places should have signs in front of them saying that the access will only be allowed if the visitor holds the certificate. #pandemic #covid #humanrights

  • The #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#TSE) is trying to contact the people responsible for the messaging app #Telegram to talk to them about the next elections. They say Telegram is a problem and it's being difficult to reach them. TSE considers them a threat for the next elections. They were able to get cooperation from #WhatsApp, that vastly limited the number of people one can share a message with, limited the size of groups, and censured content. TSE hopes to achieve the same kind of cooperation from Telegram, but they are already considering pushing for the approval of new legislation to limit Telegram's operation in Brazil unless they follow the TSE's rules. #electionprocess

  • The #SupremeCourt Justice Luís Roberto #Barroso have recorded videos defending the voting machines and criticizing the government's push for passing the addition of paper trail to the voting machines. The mixing of the systems are ignored by Justice Barroso and other critics, who only say the gov't wants to get back to paper, giving the impression they want to get rid of the machines. The idea defendended by supporters is to let the voter see (through a glass panel) their vote printed on paper, and once they confirm that the vote on paper reflects what they pressed on the machine, the voter confirms and the paper is released into a ballot box. If a result is contested and there's strong evidence to support it, a recount can happen, but this recount is not immediate (can take days or weeks or even months to happen) and doesn't keep the result from being made public by electronic means only. The winners are going to be confirmed as soon as the eletronic data is available. Manual counting can happen while incurring no problems to the one currently in office. Barroso's activism doesn't stop there. Not only is he recording videos in Portuguese but also in English, in French, and in Spanish. What would he be recording them in those languages for? And things get worse. He has already talked with the leaders of ten parties. You didn't read wrong. One of our Supreme Court judge-ministers is recording videos and giving interviews defending the voting machine and criticizing (and lying about) the addition of the paper trail, and also looking to strengthen the opposition parties to vote against this change by talking to them in person. These meetings are not a secret, many news outlets are writing about this, and you can find the videos on TSE's channel on YouTube under the name 'justicaeleitoral.' #electoralprocess #votingsystem

  • In the State of #Alagoas, the Military Police removed Lieutenant-colonel #MarcosVanderlei from the position of subcommander of the Capital Patrolling Command after he posted a picture on social media posing next to President #Bolsonaro (with this one hugging him) while the president was visiting this Northeastern state. According to the general-commander of the Military Police, Vanderlei's dismissal was an order from #PalmaresPalace, Alagoas' administrative headquarters, and according to Vanderlei himself, his dismissal was due to his online criticism of the governor's administration, #RenanFilho, and of #RenanCalheiros, Filho's father and senator.

  • #SaoPaulo Mayor João #Doria announced his plan to have the whole population of the state vaccinated by September 15th. #RiodeJaneiro Mayor #EduardoPaes also said that he expects 'everybody' to be vaccinated by September. It's not clear what they mean by everybody, if they mean everybody who needs the vaccine. #covid #pandemic

  • President #Bolsonaro helped organize and attended a third motorcycle rally in a span of about a month. This time it took place on Saturday in #SaoPaulo. The rally took off at #Sambodromo, SP, passed by the city of #Jundiai, and went back to SP stopping at #IbirapueraPark—an about 65-mile ride—where he spoke. Bolsonaro, his son #EduardoBolsonaro, Secretary (Minister) of the Environment #RicardoSalles, of Science, Technology, and Innovation #MarcosPontes, of Infrastructure #TarcisiodeFreitas, Congresswoman #CarlaZambelli, and Congressman #GilDiniz were among the attendees. At least 12 thousand motorcyclists attended the rally.