• The city of #Paqueta, #RiodeJaneiro, is the first Brazilian city to vaccinate every single one of its citizens above 18 years of age. The current secretary (minister) of health, #MarceloQueiroga, said the vaccination is the hope against the Chinese virus. It's not clear what he means by “the hope,” if he means it is the hope for the ones who need or ask for it, or if he means for everybody regardless. If it's the former, he's being wise in the sense his words don't provide fuel for the leftist media to want to pressure and eventually destroy him. Which one could that be? #covid #pandemic
• Former Secretary (Minister) of Foreign Affairs #ErnestoAraujo is being investigated by the commission probe into financial mismanagement during the #pandemic. The commission asked for the disclosure of his phone communications. Besides the probe being related to the pandemic, #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #AlexandredeMorais denied a resquest to limit the disclosure to the time of the pandemic, meaning everything should be disclosed, ever since he was appointed minister in the very beginnig of the #Bolsonaro administration. Nearly everything that's disclosed from a gov't official ends up published by the leftist media, it's the incredible “anonymous” sources' capacity to get access to anything ruled by the STF, and the access (or leak) is likely to happen here, which can greatly damage Brazil's diplomatic image. #covid #diplomacy
• #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #RosaWeber ruled that the commission probe into mismanagement of financial help during the #pandemic cannot summon governors for a hearing. The other ministers will analyze her rule this Thursday, but there's not much hope for a reversal. #covid
• The biggest (and infamous) TV network #Globo and doctor #DrauzioVarella (whose statement “[#COVID] IS JUST A LITTLE FLU” and later attributed to President #Bolsonaro for quoting it, with the opposition using it to try to incriminate him) will have to pay 150,000 reals in reparations to the father of a child that was killed by a transexual. In one of his shows on Globo on March last year, Dr Varella interviewed a transexual called Suzy from inside a prison. The purpose of the interview was to humanize and bring awareness to this population. Suzy said he hadn't receive a visit in 8 years, not even from family members, he cried, and they hugged each other. This led to a nationwide commotion and many people volunteered to help Suzy fiancianlly and in other ways. Even children wrote him letters of support. Problem is, Suzy was the one who killed that father's boy and nowhere in the show Dr Varella let people know what took him to jail. The truth spread fast and the outrage was set. The father was enraged by how the killer of his son was being portrayed on TV, as a sensible, mistreated, and misunderstood person. The dad had to go through the pain of reviving his son's death, but now with the addition to having to swallow his son's murderer being treated so well on national TV. Dr Varella tried to defend himself by saying he didn't know about Suzy's crime, it was up to the show's staff to check that, and him not knowing about it was on purpose in order to avoid any bias or making him not get honestly involved with the criminal. Even if he was honest, the lack of awareness from his staff about the possibility of the public getting that information and their subsequent reaction was too great. By the way, Suzy also raped the boy before killing him. #transexuality #transexualism #lgbt
• President #Bolsonaro lost his cool during a visit to the city of #Guaratingueta, #SaoPaulo, to attend an #airforce graduation ceremony. Before arriving at the air force base, he stopped on the way, on the street, to talk to some supporters and take pictures with them. At this time, he was not wearing a mask. At the air force base, though, he was wearing it at all times he was filmed, indoors and outdoors. After that, he visited a public clinic that received federal fund to be transformed into a temporary space for treating #COVID patients. He was wearing his mask at all times there as well. At a certain moment during him taking questions from journalists about his visit and things related to it, though, a #CNN reporter interrupted him prompting him to say, “CAN I FINISH? ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO INTERRUPT [THE INTERVIEW]? CNN, HUH? YOU PRAISED THE LEFTIST RALLY, THEY THREW FIREWORKS AT YOU AND YOU CALLED IT A PEACEFUL PROTEST.” He then proceeded to talk about freedom of choice for patients and doctors. Then, a #Globo reporter asked him, “YOU WERE ALREADY FINED IN THE STATE OF #SAOPAULO FOR NOT WEARING A MASK?” He goes, “WILL YOU WANT TO MAKE A DECENT QUESTION? ARE YOU FROM GLOBO? I WANT NO TALK WITH GLOBO.” He proceeded to be asked questions from another reporter about the investiment in Guaratinguetá and all was going well when the Globo reporter asked another question. “YOU GOT HERE WITHOUT A MASK” [before the commitments and while he was on the street to talk and take pictures with supporters, yes, but then never more.] This was enough to derail the interview. His expression of frustration was clear. He went, “I ARRIVE HOWEVER I WISH, I TAKE CARE OF MY LIFE. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO WEAR A MASK, DON'T WEAR IT. EVERYTHING I SAID ABOUT THE VIRUS, UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, WAS RIGHT. THE PREVENTIVE TREATMENT SAVED MY LIFE AND 200 MORE LIVES IN MY BUILDING. MANY JOURNALISTS CONFIDED TO ME THEY TOOK #HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE, #IVERMECTIN. WHY DON'T YOU ADMIT THAT? DO YOU THINK I'M GOING TO FOLLOW BONNER'S [a Globo editor and anchor] OR #MIRIAMLEITAO'S [a Globo's economy expert] OPINIONS? YOU WANT SOMETHING TO COVER? I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU ONE.” [He takes his mask off.] “I'M IN GUARATINGUETÁ WITHOUT A MASK. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? THIS GLOBO IS A PIECE OF SH*T OF PRESS! YOU ALL ARE A TRASH OF A PRESS! YOU ARE EVIL JOURNALISM, AND YOU HELP NOTHING! YOU DESTROY THE BRAZILIAN FAMILY, DESTROY THE BRAZILIAN RELIGION [CULTURE], YOU ARE WORTHLESS! GLOBO IS WORTHLESS! GLOBO IS A TERRIBLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION! IF YOU DON'T WATCH GLOBO YOU DON'T HAVE THE INFORMATION, IF YOU WATCH GLOBO YOU HAVE #DISINFORMATION.” At this point, Congresswoman #CarlaZambelli, who was following him among others and is seen in the video at his left, started to take her mask off in a display of support. He goes on, “YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF FOR ACCEPTING TO DO GLOBO'S DISGRACEFUL JOB.”
• The Department (Ministry) of Health plans to ban the use of the Chinese #COVID vaccine #CoronaVac due to low efficacy. This was the vaccine the biggest advocate for lockdowns and social distancing and mass vaccination (and governor of #SaoPaulo) João #Doria was promoting. Its efficacy is so bad that even celebrities that are his supporters and open critics of President #Bolsonaro were reported trying to find for a hospital that was offering a brand other than the CoronaVac. #pandemic
• #NiceYamaguchi, a doctor who gave her testimony during a hearing in the probe commission on mismanagement during the #pandemic, is suing Senators #OmarAziz and #OttoAlencar for moral damages for how they treated her during her hearing on June 1st. It was really bad. Even some leftists, who are against her for her defending the use of hydroxychloroquine, cheered when she lost her job at #AlbertEinstein Hospital, and wish her to be investigated and punished, recognized the treatment was that bad. Yamaguchi is asking for 320 thousand reals in reparation and said she'll donate everything to cancer treatment hospitals if she wins. #covid
• #Folha is one of the biggest (leftist) news outlets in Brazil, and they reported that, according to leftist organization movements, a total of 750 thousand people distributed in 427 rallies, 366 cities (including 27 capitals), and 42 cities abroad in 17 countries are their numbers for last weekend's anti-President #Bolsonaro's rallies. They also reported that the rallies were peaceful. Anyone who's been following the right and the left rallies closely, either attending them or checking many sources for videos and photos, knows that this is tremendous fake news. It's not like manipulating small differences, but just gross misinformation. One of the headlines of an article of same news outlet reads, “FIRE SPOTS DON'T SPREAD, AND A PEACEFUL PROTEST CARRIES ON.” A Twitter user called #DiegoGarcia (user dimacgarcia) posted a thread on June 20th with 50 posts exposing all sorts of violence carried out by protesters in many different locations. One specific picture that was shared by leftist Congressman #PauloPimentel shows people packing an avenue in the city of #BeloHorizonte, but the picture is from 2016. To make things more outrageous, the leftist miniscule protests were given plenty of space in several other news outlets and on TV, with them saying the protestors were only concerned about sanitary issues and democracy issues. In reality, many fights, depredation, and littering were reported, and the attendee number was small. The rallies had many groups and big banners, which raised the suspicion that, as usual in the left, a great deal of them were financed and organized by political groups, organizations, and parties. In #RiodeJaneiro, besides the number of attendees not surpassing 3 thousand, based on an aerial picture, they are holding a massive banner, nearly a block long. This is unusual when a rally is truly an organic one, truly popular, because it's less coordinated, unless it's something big in the middle of an equally big rally. The disinformation media network is international, and several international news outlets spread the lies. And, there were the “stay home” and “wear a mask” and “don't agglomerate” that, during their protests, were mere recommendations, differently from a life-and-genocide matter when talking about the rallies attended by rightwingers. #pandemic
• After 900 days of presidency, the #Bolsonaro administration, seeking to diminish bureaucracy, mirroring #Trump, has already revoked more than 4,500 decrees.
• Due to the fact that President #Bolsonaro is very likely to drop current Vice-president #Mourao in the next run, this one is already in the talks to join a party and run for the #Senate for #RioGrandedoSul or for governor of #RiodeJaneiro. Bolsonaro and Mourão's relationship started to worn out early in the presidency due to Mourão's disastrous interviews, almost always expressing disagreeing views on Bolsonaro's key campaign promises, like bring guns back into the hands of law-abiding citizens, and on several other matters. Bolsonaro called him out several times. Mourão diminished the number of his interviews, but the few he does, the disagreement is still there. In spite of being a friend from decades, Mourão was called to be his vice at the last minute because the person Bolsonaro had in mind and everybody believed was going to accept, #JanainaPaschoal (a key figure in #DilmaRousseff's impeachment), refused to. After the elections, Paschoal turned against Bolsonaro, now making many people believe the change was good, but then, further on, she diminished her criticism and even praised the government.
• Once again, a #military makes one of those statements that make some Brazilians yawn. Minister-General #LuisCarlosMattos said during an interview for left-leaning news outlet #Veja that “THE OPPOSITION IS STRETCHING THE ROPE TOO MUCH.” He's referring to a possible military intervention. We say that some Brazilians yawn because this is not the first time a military officer releases a statement implying that some high power institution, the #Congress or the #Senate or the #SupremeCourt, is using their political and authority power to work against the wish of the people and to destabilize the government, and that this could result in a military action. We from TBB think that these statements are somehow disrespectful, especially after so much unconstitutionalities have taken place and nothing has happened. The military shouldn't be saying things gratuitiously or making repeated threats (like politicians do).
• Leftist Senator #RandolfeRodrigues, vice-chair of the pandemic probe wants summon representants of #Facebook and #YouTube to go to the hearing to explain why President #Bolsonaro was still not banned from their platforms, arguing that “#TRUMP WAS BANNED FOR MUCH LESS.” #pandemic #covid #socialmedia #censorship #bigtech
• The State General Attorney's Office requested the release of activist #SaraWinter and journalist #OswaldoEustaquio (among others), both of which had what many consider an unconstitutional arrest, since all the process related to their arrest, the accusation, the investigation, the arrest, the judgement, were all conducted by one single man, #SupremeCourt Justice #AlexandredeMoraes. The office also requested that the investigation on Congressman #DanielSilveira, also unconstitutionally arrested by De Moraes, be archived.
• By 42-37, the #Senate approved a bill for the privatization of #Eletrobras, but the bill is undergoing further changes in the Senate, so it should head back to the Lower House for the approval of the bill with the changes. Eletrobras is a state-run electric utilities company. Government allies fear these changes will diminish the effectiveness of the privatization bill, just as has happened to the #AdministrativeReform bill, where numerous changes and demands for sparing specific groups of public servants is rendering the scope of the reform narrower since most of the problem lies just on those who have the lobby power of thousands of unions across the country: public servants themselves.
• Former Governor of #RiodeJaneiro #WilsonWitzel was summoned to speak at the commission to probe politicians' actions during the #pandemic but he got an order from #SupremeCourt Justice #KassioNunes, appointed by President #Bolsonaro, to skip the hearing or, if he attended it, that he would be able to leave it at any time and he would also be exempt from making an oath. He decided to go, but before Senator #EduardoGirao finished asking him about the purchase of ventilators, the speaker interrupted him to say that Witzel was leaving the hearing. Later it was known that he decided to leave the hearing not because of that question, but because his staff told him during the hearing that he had been charged by a judge on this purchase. #covid
• #ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency) delayed the end of the protection against local energy companies cutting the power of residents due to late payment of energy bill by families whose members make half the minimum wage or less. 12 million Brazilians are eligible. #pandemic #covid
• “[THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL] IS OFFICIAL. WE DEFEND THE VACCINATION NOT TO BE MANDATORY. PEOPLE HAVE TO HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE WHAT IS THE BEST CHOICE ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE IS THE BEST FOR THEIR HEALTH, SO THE COUNCIL'S DECISION DOESN'T CHANGE AFTER THE #SENATE [VOTED IN FAVOR OF A #VACCINATIONPASSPORT],” said President of the Federal Medicine Council #MauroRibeiro. About the use of mask, though, he's in favor that it continues to be mandatory. #covid #pandemic
• The #Senate commission to probe the handling of the #pandemic heard the former Secretary of Health of the State of #Amazon #MarcellusCampelo. He left his position on June 7th after he was arrested by the federal police on the 2nd and his house was searched. The police was carrying out arrest and search warranties over the collapse of the health care system, with the state running out of rooms and ventilators, even with the state receiving financial help from the government. This is the first time someone related to a state is heard by the commission since it started about one and half months ago. The Governor of Amazon #WilsonLima was supposed to have spoken before him, but he was able to get an order from the #SupremeCourt (#STF) to avoid it. Campêlo's answers were evasive and he tried to blame the government. It's hard to believe, but the whole state of Amazon had one room prepared to receive #COVID patients when the pandemic started. Yes, only one. According to Campêlo, Lima was informed in July 2020 that there was going to be a shortage of oxygen, but Lima only signed a contract to buy more ventilators in November. In December 2019, Amazon had 319 million reals available for investment, in August of 2020 it reached 459 million, in December it was 478 million, and in March this year, 553. The probe is trying to find out why the state had a positive balance throughout all 2020 (and still has) and still spired into having the worse health crisis among all Brazilian states. #CarlosGabas, middleman for a deal made between a consortium composed of several Northeastern states and a company specialized in products made out of cannabis to sell #ventilators and never did, is someone the gov't allies want very much to speak at the hearing, but so far the commission is resisting to summon him. A contract Gabas intermediated with the state of #Alagoas and related to the pandemic also caused a multi-million real issue. Alagoas is governed by #RenanFilho, Senator #RenanCalheiros' son. Calheiros is the speaker of the commission, and even though one of Gabas' suspicious dealings involving money directed to fight the pandemic smells right in front of his son's office door, he has not summoned. The pressure from the people for Gabas to be heard has been good. Senate technicians reported overwhelming number of emails and calls in a short period of time asking for his hearing. It was more than 6,000 emails. So far, to no avail. #covid

• During this morning's stop to talk to supporters, President #Bolsonaro said, “LOOK, BRAZIL IS AT ITS LIMIT. PEOPLE SAY I SHOULD DO SOMETHING. I AM WAITING FOR THE PEOPLE TO GIVE ME A SIGN, BECAUSE HUNGER, MISERY, JOBLESSNESS; IT'S THERE FOR ANYONE TO SEE.”
• Business people, employees, and some of the population of the City of #Muriae, #MinasGerais, joined forces and drove away police officers and health inspectors that were checking if businesses were complying with the city's and state's lockdown measures.
• The export of some commodities to #China has shown continued increase since #Bolsonaro took office, and the number of businesses opened in 2020 is 6% higher compared to the same period of 2019.
• At least two of the biggest old mainstream news media reported the news that #China recognizes their vaccine has low efficacy as, “CHINA CONSIDERS MIXING VACCINES (or STUDIES WAYS) TO IMPROVE EFFICACY.” #COVID
• New photos and videos shared online are going viral for showing buses and trains in #SaoPaulo continuing to operate at lower capacity, resulting in large agglomerations and the impossibility of social distancing.
• A law bill proposing that remote meetings by congresspeople be permanent was presented. The argument is that it will help the government save a lot of money with facilities, services, food, supplies, and with commuting.
• A law bill proposing a “passport” that identifies who has #COVID and who took the vaccination shot has been presented. Just as what has been proposed in other countries, the passport can be used as a requirement to buy products and to use services.
• The ex-interim president of #Brazil, #MichelTemer, will work as a lobbyist for the Chinese company #Huawei during the 5G bidding.
• As of two days ago, the government delivered 47 million vaccine shots and 26 million of them were given.
• The Senate already have enough signatures to add mayors, governors, and #SupremeCourt judge-ministers into a nationwide investigation on the use of money to fight #COVID. Some governors want to restrict the investigation at the federal level; want it to investigate how federal money was used, but not state and city money.
• During #Bolsonaro's morning stop to talk to supporters he said the rest of the audio of the phone call recorded by Senator #Kajuru should be released. “I SAID MORE THINGS IN THAT CONVERSATION. EVERYTHING I SAID CAN BE RELEASED.” Kajuru said on #CNN that the president of #Pfizer went to the Palácio do Planalto (the president's office) to offer their vaccine, got there at 8am and waited until 6pm when he was told the president would receive him. Kajuru said that an ex-minister of the Ministry [Department] of Health witnessed this event. Bolsonaro tweeted it's a lie and asked Kajuru to name said minister. CNN asked Pfizer for comments and they were told this situation didn't happen. Kajuru's party announced it wants him out. Not because Kajuru seems to be lying about the president and the government, but because his plan doesn't seem to be working. One of the president's son, #FlavioBolsonaro, who's also a senator, sent a request to the Senate Ethics Council accusing Kajuru of unconstitutional behavior for recording and releasing a phone call with the president while both were in office without Bolsonaro's permission.
• The #SupremeCourt (#STF) judge-minister that was appointed by President #Bolsonaro last year, #KassioNunes, was chosen to be the one to decide whether the request for the impeachment of Judge-minister #AlexandredeMoraes will be taken to a vote in the Senate, but the president of the Senate, #RodrigoPacheco, doesn't seem willing to allow the vote to happen. He argued, “WE WON'T ALLOW THAT THE SENATE ACT AS AN AVENGER AGAINST THE #SUPREMECOURT [#STF].”

• An 88-year-old Brazilian actor called #StenioGarcia took the two shots of the Chinese vaccine #Sinovac (under the research name #Coronavac) and tested positive for #COVID, calling the attention again to the long-reported low efficacy of this one vaccine. The test result said he didn't even develop any antibody. The Brazilian organization behind the import of Sinovac, #Butanta (Butantã), is pushing for a third vaccination.
• #Niteroi's mayor imposed restrictions on what can be bought at supermarkets and grocery stores. According to him, only “essential” items can be sold from this Monday on. #RiodeJaneiro
• A senator called #JorgeKajuru leaked a six-minute phone conversation he recorded between him and President #Bolsonaro discussing the request to open an investigation on the government's actions in relation to the #pandemic. In the audio, Bolsonaro tells #Kajuru, the main author of the investigation request, that, as is, the investigation will leave mayors and governors and #SupremeCourt (#STF) judges out of it, rendering an unfair and incomplete investigation. Kajuru asks the president to be more considerate of him because he is on his side. Bolsonaro says he believes in his good intention, but reinforces that he signed an investigation that aimed at questioning the government only and that no good intention could make up for this fact. He asks Kajuru to show his good intention by adding mayors and governors and Supreme Court judges into the request, since all of them took decisions of their own regarding the #pandemic, to which Kajuru fails to give a positive and confident answer. The request clearly asks “TO INVESTIGATE THE ACTIONS AND OMISSIONS OF THE FEDERAL GOV'T.” In a part where it says “JUSTIFICATION [FOR THE RESQUEST],” it starts with, “THE FEDERAL GOV'T HAS, SYSTEMICALLY, VIOLATED BASIC AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE BRAZILIAN POPULATION WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE AND HEALTH.” The reason he gave for the leak is that people was bothering him by saying he was having private conversations with the president, so he wanted to show he had nothing to hide. Problem is, #Globo, the biggest public television in #Brazil and also an openly antiBolsonaro organization, covered the leak in their Sunday night's show #Fantastico e Kajuru showed approval and reposted it on Twitter account. The fuel for animosity towards Bolsonaro had been low recently, and this leak was the fuel the opposition needed to raise hell again and boost their call for Bolsonaro's impeachment, alleging he was trying to interfere with the powers, trying to collude with a senator to go after the opposition. Further evidence Kajuru recorded and leaked the call with bad intention is a tweet where he says, “KASSIO, WE KNOW YOUR PRICE!!!” #KassioNunes is a conservative judge-minister appointed by Bolsonaro. Nunes signaled he would vote against the investigation if mayors and governors and judge-ministers weren't added to it. #COVID
• The #Bolsonaro administration got a much higher value in investment from the ports' and airports' concessions bidding than they expected, making the left go nuts after months insinuating the government was a disaster and the world was afraid of investing in #Brazil. This also shows that many foreign investors are not that naive to rely only on what the mainstream media reports.

• 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.

JUDGE ALEXANDRE DE MORAIS VS CONGRESSMAN DANIEL SILVEIRA

#SupremeCourt (#STF) Judge #AlexandredeMorais issued an arrest warranty against conservative representative #DanielSilveira. Morais is infamously known (among other things) for ordering the arrest of a journalist twice, whose title of 'journalist' was ignored by him in official documents, being called a 'blogger' instead, and who got paralyzed from waist down during prison the second time.

Silveira posted a video where he says, “BE A MAN ONCE IN YOUR LIFE” [...] “YOU [JUDGE #FACHIN], [JUDGE] ALEXANDRE DE MORAIS, [JUDGE] #MARCOAURELIO, [JUDGE] #GILMARMENDES, THE ONE THAT FREES CRIMINALS ALL THE TIME, GIVES HABEAS CORPUS ALL THE TIME, SELLS HABEAS CORPUS, SELLS SENTENCINGS. 'HEY THERE! HE WAS ARRESTED? HERE, SEND HIM TO ME!' YOU DISRESPECT THE INTERNAL RULES; THIS LITTLE SUPREME COURT, WHICH IS NO SUPREME. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR YOU TO BECOME A JUDGE-MINISTER IS IN THE ARTICLE 101 OF THE #CONSTITUTION; BUT YOU ALL ARE EMPTY, INNOCUOUS, RETARDED, THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE. ESPECIALLY YOU, FACHIN. YOU ARE PART OF THE VERY SHIT THAT [THE STF] IS.”

“HERE'S THE THING, FACHIN. EVERYBODY IS FULL OF YOUR SON-OF-B***H'S FACE, THIS VAGABOND'S FACE” [...] “SEVERAL TIMES I VISUALIZED YOU BEING BEATEN UP. NOT ONLY YOU, BUT ALL THIS COURT'S MEMBERS” [...] “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SAY? THAT I AM ENCOURAGING VIOLENCE? NO, I JUST IMAGINED, AND ME IMAGINING MYSELF DOING SUCH A THING, YOU KNOW IT'S” [imagining hurting someone in advance, speaking about it, but not doing it] “NOT A CRIME” [because he has an extra constitutional protection when it comes to free speech compared to a regular citizen, where he can only be punish for his speech, it doesn't matter what he says, literally, by the Congress].

“I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO WITH THE GENERALS” [...] “THE LITTLE MEN OF THE GOLDEN BUTTONS [one way leftists sarcastically refer to the military], DO YOU REMEMBER? I KNOW YOU REMEMBER; INSTITUTIONAL ACT N° 5 [#AI5]; YOU WERE A PT MILITANT, FROM A COMMUNIST PARTY, FROM THE COMMUNIST ALLIANCE OF #BRAZIL” [the AI5 was the fifth of seventeen institutional acts written during the military regime that defined the actions taken in order to reorganize the government. The AI number 5 was the most polemic, as it allowed for the dissolve of the Congress and the Senate.]

“I TOTALLY AGREE WITH [THE EX-MINISTER OF EDUCATION] #ABRAHAMWEINTRAUB WHEN HE SAID [during a ministerial meeting] 'IF IT WAS UP TO ME, I'D PUT ALL THESE VAGABONDS IN JAIL.'” [...] “I'M GOING TO GO AFTER YOU. I'M NOT AFRAID OF VAGABONDS, OF DRUG DEALERS, OF MURDERS; I'M GOING TO BE AFRAID OF 11 THAT ARE OF NO USE FOR OUR COUNTRY? NO, I WON'T. I KNOW WHO YOU WALK ALONG, WHAT YOU DO.”

After he was notified of his arrest, he recorded another video while he waited for the arrival of the federal police, in which, in part, he says, “FROM THIS POINT ON, THE LEVEL OF THE GAME IS A LITTLE HIGHER. I'M GOING TO DEDICATE EACH AND EVERY MINUTE OF MY TERM TO SHOW WHO ALEXANDRE DE MORAIS, FACHIN, MARCO AURÉLIO DE MELO, GILMAR MENDES, #TOFFOLI, #LEWANDOWSKI ARE. I'M GOING TO PUT EACH ONE OF YOU IN YOUR PLACE. I DON'T CARE. FOR MY COUNTRY, I'M WILLING TO KILL, TO DIE, TO BE ARRESTED, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE ME FEAR YOU. IT'S THE CONGRESS WHO WILL DECIDE OVER KEEPING ME ARRESTED. YOU JUST RIPPED UP THE CONSTITUTION ONCE AGAIN. I'M LETTING EVERYONE KNOW SO THAT THEY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, SO THAT I CAN SHOW BRAZIL WHO'S ITS ENEMY. OTHER THAN THAT, I'M GOING TO SLEEP IN JAIL, AND LET'S SEE WHAT'S NEXT. LET'S SEE WHO'S WHO. [LET'S SEE IF] IT'S [ABOUT] YOU OR [ABOUT] ME AND THE PEOPLE.

Some hours after his arrest, there was a vote in the STF to know if there was majority support, and all of them voted to keep Daniel Silveira arrested, including the vote of #Bolsonaro's appointee #KassioNunes.

We don't know if Silveira's seemingly unconstitutional arrest has anything to do with prompting this, but Bolsonaro just nominated four names for the #RepublicCouncil, among them, two military, one of them a very solid conservative, General #AugustoHeleno, currently the secretary (minister) of the Department of Institutional Security. The Republic Council is responsible for giving a final opinion on the need for a political intervention, a national defense law, or a martial law, and also for matters related to the balanced relationship of the institutions.

Dozens of big politicians and many celebrities from the left already said and expressed themselves publicly against Bolsonaro in a threatening, disrespectful, and defamatory way innumerous times and neither the STF nor any of its judges ever at least said a word condemning the acts, so Silveira's arrest seems to be one more attempt to input fear into conservatives and to pressure Bolsonaro into losing it and thus give the STF and the Congress a reason to impeach him. Judge-minister Mendes came to the point of saying in a live last year that Bolsonaro was responsible for a genocide when referring to the #pandemic. Absolutely nothing happened to him and none of his colleagues made any comments.

The document containing the order for the arrest says that the video justifies an arrest warranty for a flagrant act, since the video is still circulating. We, the TBB, had a lot of difficulty to find the original video. We could only find clips and read transcripts in order to write this post. Even the channel where it was posted no longer exists. According to the Article 53 of Section V of the Constitution, the STF is responsible for ultimately certifying congresspeople's and senators' election. After that, the STF no longer has power over them. If they are caught committing an unbailable crime, then the most the STF can do is to ask the Congress to act.

The Congress is supposed to receive from the STF the formal accusation within 24 hours so that it can be taken to a vote in order to be decided if the arrest is acceptable. Some are citing the Articles 22 and 23 of the National Security Law, which say that one can be arrested for inciting violence, instability among institutions, or threatening animosity between the people and government institutions, punishable with 1 to 4 years in jail.

In the 2005 edition of Alexandre de Morais' own book 'Constitutional Rights' he quotes the words of another person to illustrate how congresspeople have their speech protected, where it says they can't be arrested for “THOUGHT OR WORD CRIMES, SUCH AS CRIME AGAINST THE HONOR, CRIME INCITEMENT, ORAL DISRESPECT FOR RELIGION, ETC.”

The judge-minister Marco Aurélio stated, referring to the Congress vote, “CONGRESSPEOPLE WILL BE ACCOUNTED FOR IN 2022 IF THEY FREE A RIGHTWING FANATIC AND POPULIST [COLLEAGUE].”

All Daniel Silveira's social media pages were shut down on the day of his arrest.