THE BRAZILIAN BOT

RiodeJaneiro

  • Seeking to change the tendency of human rights departments to focus only on making sure criminals don't have their rights violated, President #Bolsonaro will sign a bill creating the #NationalPolicyfortheRightsofVictimsofCrime in order to give equal or more attention and support to victims of crimes and to persons directly affected when the victim is mentally or physically disabilitated, or is murdered. This was one of Bolsonaro's campaign promises.

  • Minister of Economy #PauloGuedes is considering giving up from pushing for the #taxreform. The reason is the many changes that politicians are making in it, which, in the end, may make things worse than they already are.

  • The #GeneralProsecutorsOffice (#PGR) wants to know broad information on who is being financed, how much is being invested or received in donation, and how the money is to be spent during the rallies of September 7th. #TBBOPINION: This rally promises to be big, maybe even bigger than then last one, and President #Bolsonaro's foes are wasting no time in creating and inflating the narrative that an insurrection is imminent so that they can justify searches, arrests, seizings, and secrecy disclosures ahead of time with the intent to slow down the organization and discourage the attendance.

  • Investment company #XPInvestimentos and its biggest office, #AvelInvestimentos, are being sued in 10 million reals after the latter posted a picture where they gathered their employees for a photo on the roof terrace of the building where their office is located in #PortoAlegre, State of #RioGrandedoSul. The reason for the lawsuit is that few women and no people of color are spotted in the photo. #Brazil doesn't have any law that forces a private company to reserve positions for women and POC, but only for persons with disabilities, and it still depends on some factors, like the size of the company. The lawsuit also asks that the companies prove that they don't discriminate against women and POC by providing all sorts of documents and testimonies. But, they are open to a settlement. #TBBOPINION: According to the law, this lawsuit has no grounds, but given the fact the judges involved in labor cases tend to be less favorable to businesses, it won't be surprising if a judge at least drags this on for some time, which can keep the companies being portrayed in the media negatively, eventually leading them to want to settle, but the settlement per se is what the lawsuit seeks for, given that all the arguments used are—and we kid you not—philosophical. Once a settlement is reached, the lawsuit will open way to more lawsuits like it, which can be explored tirelessly by the “righteous” media, celebs, and politicians. Even companies will explore it in order to leap ahead in virtue signaling. The ultimate thing to happen is legistation. On the other hand, we the TBB suspect that this could even have been planned by XP itself, and why do we say this? XP has investments in organizations that support the left. One of them is the news outlet #OAntagonista, which has been antagonizing Bolsonaro since ever (and also his administration). XP has also released a statement saying that ex-president #Lula did not represent a threat to #Brazil's economy if he's elected in 2022. If one is not a foreigner or is not limited to only getting the news from liberal sources is aware that Lula's popularity is incredibly low, his reputation is bad, and his administration is a disaster when it comes to long-term plans. Based on all that, it's hard to understand how such an investment firm would defend Lula, and worse, express themselves at this point, when elections haven't even started. So, a company that takes the initiative leap so much ahead in defending a future Lula administration doesn't seem to have much awareness regarding morality and, considering this, could very well plan being caught in order to make news out of invisible racism just so they can have the spotlight and get ahead with their virtue signaling, at the same time that they pave the way for a fraud-enabled Lula presidency, and be an active actor in helping advancing their Marxist agenda by trying to legislate on forcing companies to diversify. Okay, our suspicion is a theory, maybe a wild guess, but when it comes to the left, nothing is far-fetched enough.

  • The #MilitaryClub released a statement saying that they will be attending the September 7th rallies. “THE MILITARY CLUB [...] STATES, ONCE AGAIN, THEIR SUPPORT FOR BIG NATIONAL AND DEMOCRATIC CAUSES. WE WILL BE TOGETHER ON THE HOLIDAY OF SEPTEMBER 7TH, #INDEPENDENCEDAY, AT 10AM, ON #COPACABANABEACH, NEXT TO GAS STATION 5.”

  • President #Bolsonaro, through the General Attorney's Office, requested the president of the #SupremeCourt to nullify any investigation started by a justice of the court on their own on the basis of #fakenews. According to the Article 43 of the Court's rule, a justice can only and directly start an investigation if it happened in its facilities, otherwise they have to ask the department responsible for it, which is the Public Attorneys Office or the Prosecutors Office. Bolsonaro's request also points out the Article 5, Items 4 and 9, and the Article 220, of the #Constitution, which cover the right to free speech, ruling out the possibility of prosecution of a regular citizen based on them telling a fake story. Justice #AlexandredeMoraes, the first time it happened, in 2019, argued that the house rule was justified because they could have access to a fake story from a phone or computer inside the Court, as if the author was inside the court, and yet, that it would be a permanent in flagrante delicto for as long as the content was available online. #TBBOPINION: Although the STF's argument is ridiculous, we see as even more ridiculous the time Bolsonaro has taken to react to such a blatant unconstitutional act. It's worth pointing out that this delay in taking action resulted in inumerous other problems across the country since 2019, like citizens being arrested and their businesses being closed indiscriminately, a journalist becoming paraplegic due to torture while in the hands of the federal police, and, more recently, Bolsonaro allies and supporters and rightwing media people and commentators being arrested and their income taken from them. None of them were accused of or proven guilty of any other crime besides the “crime” fake news (if there were fake news).

  • President #Bolsonaro vetoed the increase in the fund for the parties' campaigns from 1.8 billion reals in 2020 to 5.7 billion in 2022 in its entirety. This is certainly a move that hits most parties head on, but one which the majority of the population supports. This might be a signal that he's breaking up with his attempt to compromise in order to reach some tolarable level of support from both the #Congress and the #Senate after these did not approve the addition of the paper trail to the voting machines. Congressmen and senators were expeting that he was going to either sign it or veto it in part, so that a smaller increase, to 4.7 billion, could be approved. #TBBOPINION: We think that Bolsonaro lost this battle with the #BigCenter (the most numerous party coalition) regardless. Through constitutional means, Bolsonaro can't get the paper trail bill to pass without the houses, but they can still increase the electoral budget through other means by the end of the year, and, even if they don't manage to increase it all the way to the 5.7 billion, it's Bolsonaro who loses the most, since he can lose the election in 2022 if there's #electionfraud and, if that happens, the lack paper trail won't help him and, if he can't do anything now that he's in the presidency, what could he possible do out of it?

  • ? “ON THE 7TH [OF SEPTEMBER] WE'RE GOING TO START WITH A MILITARY CEREMONY AT 8, AT 10 WE'RE GOING TO BE HERE AT THE ESPLANADA. I SHOULD GIVE A SPEECH. I WON'T BE THREATENING ANYONE. I'M GOING TO BE IN #SAOPAULO DOING THE SAME. YOU REST ASSURED THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE WORLD OF WHAT YOU WANT. I CAN ONLY DO SOMETHING IF YOU WANT IT.” President #Bolsonaro during his brief morning stop to talk to supporters. #TBBOPINION: Once again Bolsonaro implies he's going to take action if he feels the population wants it. In other words, and in this particular case, if the rallies are impressive enough for the world to see. He has done that before and people answered with big rallies, and he took no action. We think he should have interfered, removed #SupremeCourt Justice #AlexandreDeMoraes from power the first time he shocked the country with a blatantly multi-unconstitutional act in 2019, when he alone started an investigation out of the court's facilities (unconstitutional act 1) on the idea of #fakenews (unconstitutional act 2) and ordered, alone, search and arrest warrants (unconstitutional act 3). Other unconstitutional acts has followed. Brazilians are tired and allies and supporters are starting to fear the STF's unchecked abuse of power.

  • #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #AlexandredeMoraes, continuing with his aggressive offensive against President #Bolsonaro's allies and supporters, issued on Friday 20th arrest warrants (police did 13), and, among the ones that were a target were Congressman #OtonidePaula, singer #SergioReis, and truck driver organizer #ZeTrovao. The crime is “INCITING THE POPULATION AGAINST DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS” [similar argument used in the US against Trump supporters on January 6th; insurrection]. This is because of their harsh criticism towards the STF for their unconstitutional acts. None of them has a history of crime, except for their harsh ranting and for encouraging people to go to the streets on September 7th. Reis is a famous singer, well liked by most Brazilians, and never took any political instance publicly, except now. De Paula is a close and solid ally #Bolsonaro ally, constantly accompanying and travelling with him, and always voting as expected. His office in the #Congress was searched. Some of the subjects of the warrants are involved in organizing groups to attend the upcoming September 7th rallies, and they were ordered to stay 3,000 feet from the rallies, and the PIX number (a fast and simple Brazilian transfer system) of the #CoalizacaoProCivilizacao (Pro-citizen Coalition) movement, which was receiving donations to help spread word about the rallies and to help organize them, was blocked. “I USED TO SAY TO MY CHILDREN THAT THEY WOULD NEVER SEE THE FEDERAL POLICE, AT 6 IN THE MORNING, CALLING HIS DAD THROUGH THE INTERCOM OF HIS HOME. I PROMISED THAT TO MY CHILDREN AND I HAD A CLEAR MIND THAT IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO ME, BECAUSE [I TOLD THEM] THAT THIS ONLY HAPPENS TO CROOKED POLITICIANS, BUT TODAY, AT 6AM, I HAD TO WAKE UP MY DAUGHTER AND SHE, SCARED, SAID 'WHAT'S GOING ON, DAD?' I SAID 'POLICE IS HERE AND YOU HAVE TO GO CHANGE.' YOU CAN'T IMAGINE THE EMBARRASSMENT OF HAVING YOUR CHILDREN AND WIFE IN SLEEPING CLOTHING AND THE POLICE ENTERING YOUR HOME, TRYING TO FIND ANYTHING ILLEGAL AND FINDING NOTHING, ALL IN THE NAME OF SOMEONE [Justice De Moraes] WHO DOESN'T WANT THIS COUNTRY TO BE WHAT WE ALL WANT IT TO BE,” said De Paula in an interview to #OsPingosNosIs. Twitter suspended Congressman De Paula's account citing “A LEGAL DEMAND,” likely an order from Justice De Moraes as well. #TBBOPINION: More blatant unconstitutional actions by De Moraes, and President Bolsonaro appeals to the president of the Senate, who's up to his neck in lawsuits in the hands of the STF, ready to be judged, to consider analyzing De Moraes impeachment. Ridiculous.

  • Something unusual was seen on the streets of #RiodeJaneiro. Although DVD is long gone for most people, a lot of Brazilians are poor and still rely on the practicity and simplicity of a DVD player connected to a TV set, or have some kind of internet limitation that lead them to use DVD's instead of going for a videostreaming service, and because of this, it's still possible to see street vendors selling pirate DVD's of movies and TV shows. Among the DVD's found with a street vendor was #BrasilParalelo, which is a conservative content producer focused on Brazilian history, and they had a good reaction when they learned about it. “WE JUST RECEIVED THIS PHOTO TAKEN IN RIO, AND YES, WE ARE VERY HAPPY.” Brasil Paralelo has reached dozens of millions of people in recent years with their well elaborated productions on Brazilian politics from a rightwing perspective. A lot of their content is available for free, so they believe that the content being sold is the free one (although they don't know for sure), and are glad that someone cares for poverty-stricken Brazilians learning a thing or two on politics.

  • The #CaixaEconomicaFederal (#Caixa, or #CEF), a state-run bank, showed the highest profitability during the first two years of the #Bolsonaro administration than all the 12 years of the left in power, even though it has had the lowest interest rate during Bolsonaro. Caixa has also stopped sponsoring a lot of things it did in the past, and it has limited the total amount of a single loan to 100 thousand reals in order to reach many more smaller companies and to diminish the possibility of bribery, since the amount to be paid in interest is too small for a public servant to risk. Before Bolsonaro, Caixa would give loans of hundreds of million of reals to a single company. During the first half of 2021, Caixa's profitability has already surpassed the entire year of 2020 and is the highest ever recorded by the bank.

  • “I DON'T WANT TO COME TO MY DAUGHTER LATER AND SAY THAT I HAVEN'T DONE ALL I COULD IN ORDER TO STOP A DICTATORSHIP. I BELIEVE THAT WE ALREADY ARE IN A DICTATORSHIP, BUT IT'S GETTING WORSE. I DON'T WANT TO TELL MY DAUGHTER, 'LOOK, I TRIED TO TALK, I TRIED TO REASON WITH PEOPLE WHO DID ATROCITIES.'” President #Bolsonaro's son #EduardoBolsonaro to a group of allies and #PTBParty people in a hotel in #Brasilia, referring to #SupremeCourt (#STF) Minister #AlexandredeMoraes, who has committed several unconstitutional acts since Bolsonaro took office, but also, in a lesser high degree, to STF Justice #LuisBarroso (also president and justice of the #ElectoralSupremeCourt [#TSE]). #TBBOPINION: We and most Brazilians don't see this endless hints of Bolsonaro using the 'moderate power' (the military) to change one, some, or the whole STF with good eyes, and this, along with no action before one abuse of power after the other by the STF, is only giving the left time to keep organizing, planning, encouraging each other, and intimidating Bolsonaro's allies and supporters. Differently from a company that could just do better and gets a new president whose role should be getting employees' sympathy and trust in order to make them do more, Brazil was like an unprofitable company run by thugs whose new president's role was NOT to get employees' sympathy and trust, but to crush and to kick the bad ones so that new people could get in. There is where Bolsonaro has been failing. He has managed to renew a lot personnel at the ministries' level, but the legislative and judiciary remain nearly intact. Of course, any intervention at the legislative power would be hard because there are hardly any constitutional grounds for that, but when it comes to the judiciary, he's more than justified to intervene. Several rulings that came out of the STF were considered unconstitutional nearly unanimously by law scholers, lawyers, and justices from across the country (let alone regular citizens). It's been three years, and it seems that Bolsonaro is trusting Brazil's economic prosperity, great financial health, no corruption scandals, and high insfrastructure development to guarantee his reelection, but just as happened in the US, people in charge of key positions of power were not dealt with with a big blow, and the electoral system, despite the huge amount of fraud evidence, continues to be in the hands of the people Bolsonaro should have already dealt with. Several times Bolsonaro has appealed for these people to check their conscience, has showed hope for their 'conversion' to morality, but we believe it's a waste of time and a mistake that might cost Brazilians a high price. It's the same mistake Trump made, but Bolsonaro has Trump and Republicans as examples to see where they failed, and has also had philosopher #OlavodeCarvalho giving him essential warnings. We don't see any option besides an intervention, and the more he waits, the more allies and supporters have their constitutional rights hurt and the less he does for the country. As this same Bolsonaro's son said in 2020, “IT'S NOT A MATTER OF IF [A RUPTURE AND SOME FORM OF INTERVENTION WILL HAPPEN], BUT WHEN.” One of the reasons Bolsonaro still haven't taken action, at least to remove Justice De Moraes, is that he doesn't want to be called an authoritarian, a dictator. But, the problem is that the ones calling him are the liberal media, which will do that regardless. They keep labeling him and prejudging him for future actions, and by doing so they make Bolsonaro try to do the opposite in order not to justify what they tell about him. It's a mistake. The liberal media is not what most Brazilians think, just as the American liberal media are not what most Americans think, so if we surrender to them, live to defend ourselves from their defaming and calumnious narrative; we are playing the losers even before losing.

  • President and vice-president of the #PTBParty in #SaoPaulo denounced #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #AlexandredeMoraes to the #InterAmericanCourtofHumanRights for the unconstitutional arrest of #PTBParty President #RobertoJefferson. An #IACHR rule can take too long of a time to come out. Jefferson is the third Brazilian that appealed to them due to an unconstitutional act by the STF. Before him there were journalist #OswaldoEustaquio in early 2021 (who end up paraplegic while in jail) and ex-Minister of Education (first President #Bolsonaro's) #AbrahamWeintraub in 2019 (who had to “flee” to the #UnitedStates), and there has been no ruling on their cases yet.

  • #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #CarmenLucia asked General Attorneys Office Minister #AugustoAras to say if he agrees on starting an investigation on President #Bolsonaro (for #fakenews, illegal access to documents, and “attacks” on the #ElectoralSupremeCourt [#STE]). The #Senate, which had already decided to keep postponing scrutinizing Bolsonaro's appointee for the space opened in the STF, #AndreMendonca, so that it keeps vacated for longer (thus, keeping Bolsonaro from growing in support in the STF), is pressuring Aras to give the green light for the STF to investigate Bolsonaro otherwise they will vote to remove him (Aras) out of the GAO Ministry. Aras was appointed by Bolsonaro in late 2019.

  • The #FederalPolice has started an operation to carry out 95 arrest warrants in 8 states. 400 agents are involved in it. The purpose of it is to produce hearings and collect evidence in order to investigate embezzlement and misuse of gov't funding during the #pandemic.

  • After finishing an interview, #SaoPaulo Governor João #Doria made a thumbs-up gesture as if saying, finished?, good?, and when confirmed, he punched one hand with the other while enthusiastically and childishly saying “TAKE IT, #BOLSONARO!” This part was cut off from the original interview, but the part with the reaction was leaked.

  • #SaoPaulo Governor João #Doria spent 1 billion reals on budget proposals by all 94 SP's state representatives without his administration adding any information related to that on the transparency website as they're supposed to.

  • During a videoconference broadcast online by the #SupremeCourt (#STF), Justice #LuisBarroso (also president of the #ElectoralSupremeCourt [#TSE]) was caught on a hot mic saying, “GOOD AFTERNOON, GENERAL; HOW ARE YOU?” when, immediately to hearing this, Justice #DiasToffoli is seen frawning and squinting at his laptop, and Justice #AlexandredeMoraes says, “MINISTER [LUÍS] ROBERTO [BARROSO], YOUR MICROPHONE IS OPEN.” The STF released a statement to clarify whose general Barroso was talking to and what. The statement says it was General #BragaNetto (current Minister of Defense), and Barroso was asking him to refer to him some military personnel to be part of a committee to oversee the security of the election process next year.

  • The #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#TSE) Justice #LuisFelipeSalomao ordered that #socialplatforms suspend the payment of the monetization to the recipients of channels and accounts that spread #fakenews on election-related topics. The TSE is Ok with the channels and accounts being monetized, but it wants the money to be sent to the institution's bank account instead. According to the law, one cannot have their income taken away unless they have committed a crime, and #fakenews (IF they are reporting fake news) is currently not a crime in #Brazil. The order also demands that the platforms disable the algorithm that recommends other political channels and accounts based on the targeted ones. The TSE already sent the platforms a list of channels and accounts they view as spreading fake news. 250 lawyers signed a petition against this order. #abuseofpower #socialmedia #freedomofspeech #censorship

  • A geography teacher in the city of #Fortaleza, state of #Ceara, assigned his students a test that contained three strange questions and unrelated to the subject. One was, WHAT IS #COVID? One of the options was, “JUST A LITTLE COLD AND A LITTLE FLU AS PRESIDENT #BOLSONARO SAID?” (this is the right option). Bolsonaro actually quoted a famous doctor the left has always praised. The second one, “WHO'S REPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF 550,000 PEOPLE FOR NOT TAKING THE ADQUATE MEASURES NEEDED TO SAVE LIVES?” One of the options was “BOLSONARO” (this is the right option). The #SupremeCourt (#STF) ruled early on in 2020 that the responsibility would be mayors' and governors,' and this rule's still held. And, the last of this kind of question was, “PRESIDENT BOLSONARO WAS PRESCRIBING MEDICATION EVEN THOUGH HE WAS NOT AN EXPERT AND HAD NO EDUCATION IN HEALTH. WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE MEDICATIONS?” There are three answers with medication names (#chloroquine, #ivermectin, #hydroxychloroquine) and the fourth one saying all the above (the fourth is the right option). He never recommended chloroquine, but mentioned it as a structure of hydroxychloroquine, not as an alternative medication to the latter, and Bolsonaro never claimed he had any qualifications in health care, but cited facts related to the use of those medications based on his experience in the military and in reports from people and doctors that have taken them during the #pandemic. City Councilor #AndreFernandes is pressing charges against the teacher and the school for misleading propaganda and for harassment.

  • The State of #Maranhao Governor #FlavioDino threatened to use his state's police force against the #NationalGuard in case there is any federal intervention. He stated, “A UNIFORM MEANS COMMITMENT TO THE NATION, NOT TO A PARTY OR A FACTION.” Dino is a leftist and a strong (and vocal) oppositor to the #Bolsonaro administration. 13 other governors share the same feeling, but without being as explicit as Dino is. #SaoPaulo Governor João #Doria is one of those governors, but the president of the Association of Commissioners released a statement saying, “IF NEEDED, THE POLICE WILL [DEFEND THE STATE] DUE TO ITS COMMITMENT TO THE FEDERAL #CONSTITUTION, NOT BY THE WISH OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE [OF SP] WHO SITS ON HIS CHAIR TEMPORARILY, AND DOESN'T HAVE SUCH A POWER TO TELL HOW THE POLICE SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT CARRY OUT THEIR DUTY.” #OPINIONTBB: Although the Northeastern region of #Brazil tends to yield more votes for leftist politicians (due to how news is even more controlled and manipulated there), Bolsonaro's visit to the State of Maranhao (and other states) since he took office has brought huge crowds to see him, and a good deal of infrastructure projects are already being noticed by the population in those states, so it doesn't seem to us that there would be enough agreement among police officers to engage in such a conflict. Governors can end up provoking internal conflicts as well. Actually, TBB still doesn't know where this fear of a national intervention comes from. Maybe they themselves know they're up to something (or know who are) that may lead to that?

  • 493 cities in #Brazil allegedly have more registered voters than inhabitants. This could be the result of fake addresses in order to help elect politicians. This is particularly effective when it comes to electing city councilors, since, in certain cities, one can be elected with less than 300 votes. #electionfraud

  • Brazilians are preparing for another nationwide demonstration across the country on September 7th in support for President #Bolsonaro and some kind of intervention, the most commonly agreed among them, the removal of all #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justices (or, at least two of them, #AlexandredeMoraes and #LuisBarroso, the latter who's also the president of the #ElectoralSupremeCourt [#STE]). September 7th is #IndependenceDay. The last one was already considered among the biggest ever made by the right, but this next one promises to be even bigger, because several high profile people already started promoting it and encouraging attendance, which didn't happen nowhere nearly as much prior to the previous demonstrations. Truck drivers are also planning to stop the country in support for the demonstrations, but there have been some mixed signals here. Also, since around mid 2020, justice has decided to prohibit antagonistic demonstrations and that they should take turns in case a same date is claimed by both sides. The left claimed September 7th as well, saying the last demonstrations were pro-Bolsonaro, but this is not exactly true. The left has not made any big demonstrations since then, but they did do several smaller ones across Brazil since then, incluing strikes. The issue is that their attendance is very low and their own media kind of ignore a good deal of them, so they claim they haven't done any big and coordinated one.

  • #PTBParty's president, #RobertoJefferson, received a jail warrant issued by #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #AlexandredeMoraes. The reason is that he was included in a new investigation on people allegedly involved in a “DIGITAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION AGAINST DEMOCRACY” (in which President #Bolsonaro is also included). Jefferson was the one responsible for exposing the corruption scandal #Mensalao in 2005, which, since then, greatly destabilized the leftist gov't that would still be in power for 11 more years. He paid jail time, got very sick, and is back to presiding over his party. Jefferson is a rare politican when it comes to his rhetoric, capable of turning everyone's attention at every single interview he gives, and he has been a strong critic of how the STF has been acting since Bolsonaro was elected—as strong as very few has dared; harsh and charming at the same time. Many, including us TBB, wondered why the STF hadn't turned on him yet. De Moraes considered Jefferson a threat to democracy due of his razorblade criticism and capacity to move people and attract allies. The #FederalPolice went to look for him at his ex-wife's home, who divorced him 20 years ago, before going to the right address, which Jefferson believes was with the purpose of terrorizing his family and making psychological pressuring on him. Outrageously, the Embassador of #China, #YangWenming, tweeted, “[NINE CLAP EMOJIS] BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR EVERYONE.” He was referring to Jefferson's arrest, an attitude considered undiplomatic, and there have been talks to demand #China to change him because this was not the first time he behaves undiplomatically. A couple of minutes before being arrested, Jefferson recorded and published a short audio message talking about it, and during the recording he mentions “MENSALÃO CHINÊS” ('Chinese monthly allowance'), implying the Chinese gov't would be influencing politics through bribery and funding. The item IV and XII of the Article 166 of the Law 8112 of the #CivilCode says, “[ABOUT THE DISCIPLINARY REGIME; THE DUTIES;] IT'S THE [PUBLIC] SERVANT'S DUTY; TO CARRY OUT SUPERIOR ORDERS, EXCEPT WHEN BLATANTLY ILLEGAL; TO STAND UP AGAINST ILLEGALITY, OMISSION, OR ABUSE OF POWER.” Some experts in law have criticized the #FederalPolice for carrying out this arrest (as they did others) in blatant violation of the Civil Code and the #Constitution laws. This time, De Moraes consulted General Attorneys Office Minister #AugustoAras about issuing an arrest warrant against Jefferson, and Aras answered against the warrant. De Moraes said that Aras' didn't give him any answer, so he decided to issue it anyway. Aras released a statement saying that he did issue a response (7 days later than the deadline De Moraes gave him but still in the night before Jefferson's arrest) and it was against Jefferson's arrest because it violated his constitutional rights and he did not present any threat or danger to democracy. Jefferson will appeal to De Moraes himself for him to review his order. If De Moreas doesn't reverse it, Jefferson will appeal to the STF so that the other justices vote on it. The odds can be on Jefferson in two ways if it gets to the STF, by the justices voting to keep the order, or by simply delaying the vote indefinitely. #Bolsonaro has requested that the president of the #Senate, #RodrigoPacheco, start an #impeachment process against Justice De Moraes for unconstitutional acts. If this impeachment process goes ahead and De Moraes is impeached, he should not be able to work as a public servant for 8 years. Pacheco, though, has 23 lawsuits against him in the hands of the STF, and said “I'M GOING TO [SEE THE POSSIBILITY OF TAKING THE REQUEST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF DE MORAES TO BE ANALYZED BY THE SENATE], BUT I DON'T FORESEE ANY TECHNICAL, JUDICIAL, AND POLITICAL BASIS FOR HIS IMPEACHMENT. IMPEACHMENT IS SOMETHING SERIOUS, AN EXCEPTION, AND SHOULDN'T BE BANALIZED.” Bolsonaro initially considered handing the request to Pacheco in person accompanied by his ministers in order to show the importance of it being analyzed by the house, but he was talked out of it and the request was not handed by him. Jefferson's claim that the Chinese Gov't is regularly paying money to key people in the private and public sector, including gov't'l agencies in Brazil and other South American countries, was confirmed by American Southern Command Admiral #CraigFeller.

  • An electoral bill approved in a preliminary vote in the #Congress aimed to bring some “improvement” to the electoral system has among its proposals one that makes a woman or a black person be worth twice as much government campaign fund for the party to use in the following elections. #reverseracism #reversediscrimination #reverseprejudice

  • Famous actor #TarcisioMeira died from #COVID after getting the 2nd shot of the #CoronaVac vaccine, the one made in #China and considered the least effective in #Brazil by the gov't's health agency #ANVISA (approved nevertheless). It was promoted as 100% effective in #SaoPaulo, the state that defended and promoted its use, but it's available nationwide now. His wife also got the second shot, was reinfected, had to go to hospital, but is recovering. He posted a picture going to get the shot and praising the #SUS, #Brazil's public health system—his son did the same—but when he got reinfected and got ill, he went to #AlbertEinste in, a private and expensive hospital. There is where his wife went as well. Another famous Brazilian who got the second shot in March (same month the Meiras' got theirs) also had to spend some days in hospital recently due to a reinfection. It was #SilvioSantos, owner of TV network #SBT and of several other businesses. #pandemic

  • The #Senate approved a new #NationalSecurityLaw bill. It had already been approved in the #Congress. The previous version of the law was created during the military regime and was considered ineffective in preventing new kinds of threats. During the adoption of the current #Constitution, in 1988, the law was kept. The left never liked the idea of it, especially because it was created to prevent threats of marxist nature, but it had never really been used (most regular citizens of the time didn't even remember it existed, much less later generations) until the #SupremeCourt (#STF) dusted it off and started making use of it in 2019 by starting an investigation aiming to go after and squash President #Bolsonaro's allies and supporters by framing them as financers and disseminators of #fakenews, and also as a threat of the institutional stability. The revised one, intended to address shortcomings related to the mordern time, kept the same items, but presents some new controversial ones. For instance, “INTERRUPTION OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS,” “MISLEADING MASS COMMUNICATION [THAT CAN INTERFERE WITH THE ELECTORAL PROCESS; Here, the law is taking issue at #socialplatforms, which can be punished if enough evidence is found that a politician benefitted {or was disgraced} due to a high amoung of information being shared on a specific platform, which in turn can lead the companies to restrict groups and perhaps even scan chats for key words],” “POLITICAL VIOLENCE [the issue here is that they added “psychological violence;” for instance, persuading someone to change their political point-of-view could be considered psychological violence depending on how the persuaded person reacts and a judge interprets it; political debates can get harder, and there can be total submission to authorities due to an unwillingness to confront them for fear of being accused of being threatening or aggressive, which could also be interpreted as a form of psychological violence].”

  • Minister of Health #MarceloQueiroga promises to end the mask mandate by the end of the year, when he believes the whole population will be fully vaccinated. #TBBOPINION: It's quite obvious the whole population won't be fully vaccinated by the end of the year, so this kind of statement raises questions. One of them is, could he be just avoiding controversy from the left and hoping that time will make their buzz on the unvaccinated die out?

  • President #Bolsonaro signed a bill that will allow gas stations to sell fuel from a different brand other than the one they represent, but the consumer has to be informed about the name of the other brand if the gas station is using a different one. The bill also allow for gas stations to buy ethanol without a distributor, directly from a producer if they prefer and there is direct transportion available (which can also be provided by the gas station itself). These changes seek to increase competition among brands, and increase gas stations' options, which can possibly result in fewer cartels and in lower prices. The changes will get into effect in four months so that all involved in the production, distribution, and selling of fuel can get prepared for the changes.

  • The #Congress rejected an impeachment process against President #Bolsonaro.

  • The vote in the #Congress for the addition of the paper trail to the voting machines for the elections of 2022 won against it. Most Brazilians wanted it to be approved, and the last demonstrations (three Sundays ago) were some of the biggest in recent years, attesting to the popular wish, but its rejection was expected. Several congresspeople reported problems during the vote, which was electronic, citing, for instance, the inability to rectify a vote. The president of the #Senate, #RodrigoPacheco, said that the house will no longer analyze any future bills related to the addition of the paper trail to the voting machines, that this is a matter to rest. #electionfraud

  • A video from about two months ago showing the #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#TSE) President #LuisBarroso (also a #SupremeCourt [#STF] justice) walking through a hallway of the #Congress along with other people during a visit to the House of Reps' president #ArthurLira and saying “AND I JOKED WITH HIM [Lira], 'ELECTIONS, YOU DON'T WIN THEM, YOU TAKE 'EM'” became viral. He and many around him laugh, and then he goes, “IS IT RECORDING SOUND?,” and a guy next to him says, “MAYBE IT IS, MAYBE IT'S NOT.” #electionfraud

  • President #Bolsonaro is preparing a bill that will help make sure #freedomofexpression is protected against #socialmedia #censorship. According to what's already known about the bill, #socialplatforms could only censor content under a court rule and based on the #CivilCode (which does not rule on fake news, but allow actions to be taken in case of calumny and defamation).

  • The #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#TSE) went to the #SupremeCourt (#STF) against President #Bolsonaro because he allegedly showed during his livestreams on #electionfraud confidential information on the investigation on a hacker that accessed the electoral system. One of the STF's justices, #LuisBarroso, is TSE's president.

  • September 7th is #IndependenceDay in #Brazil, and it's common for a military parade to take place in #Brasilia, but this time, leftist Senator #AlessandroVieira took issue and went to court to keep heavy machinery from being displayed, like tanks. Nothing has been ruled yet.

  • #Cuba and #Venezuela is more than 600 million dollars in default with #Brazil. This money was borrowed from #BNDES ('National Bank for Social Development') during leftist governments #Lula and #Dilma with the excuse of promoting Brazilian businesses in those places. The time for them to pay back is 25 years, and the collateral Brazil accepted from Cuba was payment in cigars. The interest rate was 90% lower than the average. Other countries, like #Argentina and #Angola (among others) also benefitted from unjustified loans from Brazil.

  • The privatization of the state-run mail company #Correios was approved in the #Congress. It now needs the approval of the #Senate and of the #SupremeCourt (#STF).

  • #Congress approved a moratorium for home rent in #Brazil, but president #Bolsonaro vetoed it. Congress can still vote to take the veto down by a super majority, but has not moved toward that attempt yet.

  • #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #AlexandredeMoraes accepted a request to investigate President #Bolsonaro because of the livestreams he has made exposing evidences of #electionfraud. The investigation, approved unanimously by the STF, will also add him into an investigation about #fakenews that started in 2019 and is ongoing. #TBBOPINION: The investigation on fake news is political. Nothing has been proved against anybody in the investigation yet, but the STF was able to warrant searches and arrests, and to get people to be censured and lose their bank accounts. The investigation is considered unconstitutional because De Morais himself is the one who has been accusing, judging, issuing warranties, and he is also not letting the whole content of the investigation to be released to the defendants' lawyers. Although unconstitutional, Bolsonaro, perhaps for not wanting to justify the liberal media's pre-accusation that he's an authoritarian and wishes to carry out a military intervention, has still not done anything.

  • #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.

  • During his weekly live, President #Bolsonaro showed a piece of news where it says that #SupremeCourt [#STF] Justice #RosaWeber asked for the disclosure of the phone communication of a medication company's lawyer due to a committee investigation on the #Covaxin vaccine purchase. If you want to know more about this case, it's today's first story. Bolsonaro criticized the fact the order for a disclosure happened in a matter of days into the investigation, while the disclosure of the phone communication of the lawyer of #AdelioBispo, the guy who stabbed the president in 2018 during his campaign, has still not been asked for. Adélio was poor, but immediately after the stabbing, an expensive law firm sent a team of lawyers for his defense on a private jet, with one of them giving an infamous interview, where he speaks in a jokingly manner and even sends a kiss. #stabbing
  • A judge in #RiodeJaneiro, #RicardoCyfer, accepted a request from an #LGBT group called #ArcoIrisdaCidadaniaLGBT and ordered that the #CBF ('Brazilian Soccer Confederation) explained within two days or face an 800-real daily fine the reason why there's no shirt with the number 24. This number in Brazil is associated with homosexualism. There is this illegal-since-1947 game called #JogodoBicho (#AnimalGame) where a 'veado' (deer) is number 24, and a deer is associated with homosexualism. The office room number 24 of the #Senate was never occupied for years, and they decided to skip this number, just so you have an idea how this culture is old and spread across the country. There was some backlash and the number came back. #RodrigoPacheco, current president of the Senate, accepted to occupy the room 24. The CBF doesn't use this number because the jokes, the mockery, and the laughs can take a toll on a player's psychological state and thus their performance, it doesn't matter how much they avoid taking it personally and how much they believe most fans are just joking. The teasing is simply too great not to drive one's focus away. Some people suggested that if the CBF seems itself forced to add 24 against their will, they could adopt a conservative approach to numering their shirts, a simple sequence starting from 1. Since there are two teams and 11 players each, they'd never need a 24.
  • President #Bolsonaro's statement on the committee on the mismanagement of funds during the #pandemic #CPIdaCOVID (#COVIDProbe), “THEY CAN'T HIT US. IT WON'T BE THROUGH LIES OR THROUGH A COMMITTEE COMPOSED BY SEVEN THIEVES THAT WILL REMOVE US FROM HERE. WE HAVE A MISSION AHEAD OF US, [WHICH IS] TO CONDUCT THE NATION'S DESTINY AND ZEAL FOR THE WELLBEING AND PROGRESS OF OUR PEOPLE. WE STILL LIVE HARD TIMES, AND I HAVE TOLD EVERYONE THAT A NATION'S GREATEST ASSET IS THEIR FREEDOM. [FREEDOM IS] MORE VALUABLE THAN OUR OWN LIFE, BECAUSE WITHOUT THE FORMER, WE WOULDN'T HAVE THE LATTER. I ONLY HAVE PEACE AND TRANQUILITY BECAUSE I KNOW THAT NOT ONLY DO I HAVE THE PEOPLE [ON MY SIDE], BUT ALSO THE #ARMEDFORCES COMMITTED WITH DEMOCRACY AND WITH OUR FREEDOM. REST ASSURED WE HAVE A MISSION AHEAD OF US AND WE WILL ACCOMPLISH IT IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY.”
  • The tax revenue in May was the highest in 27 years and 70% higher compared to May of last year. Since the beginning of 2021, the increase is 21.42% compared to the same period of 2020. When it comes to #jobs, 280 thousand were created in May, and more than 1 million since January. #employment #bolsonaro
  • Congressman #DanielSilveira, arrested by order of #SupremeCourt [#STF] Justice #AlexandredeMoraes (with the authorization of the #Congress) for recording a video harshly criticizing the justices, paid a 100-thousand-real bail. His party suspended him for two months. He could appeal the suspension, but decided not to. #censorship
  • One #SupremeCourt [#STF] justice is going to retire this month, allowing President #Bolsonaro to appoint a new one, but senators from the opposition (and even some allies) are planning not to confirm his next pick until the end of the 2022 election, so that, in case he loses, a different president wouldn't be stuck with an appointed of his. Their excuse will be that they have other priorities to debate in the #Senate. The name Bolsonaro should be picking is #AndreMendonca, who was Minister of Justice from May 2020 to March 2021 and State General Attorney from January 2019 to April 2020, and again since April of 2021. Mendonça has so far proved to be a solid ally and to be able to shield himself from being pushed around and abused by the fake news media and the opposition, and this, along with the fact that he is a Christian and is widely endorsed by most of the Christian community leaders, is terrifying them.
  • The presidents of 11 parties (#AVANTE, #CIDADANIA, #DEM, #MDB, #PL, #PP, #PSD, #PSDB, #PSL, #REPUBLICANOS, and #SOLIDARIEDADE) made a commitment during a video meeting to vote against the trail paper for the voting machines. This number of parties accounts for a majority needed to vote against it. The #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#TSE) even announced they already started the process of purchasing the voting machines for 2022 without the paper trail system, even before the vote, showing how confident the TSE is that the bill for the paper trail will be rejected, but this is also a way to increase the pressure on congresspeople to vote against it, since the purchase would have already been made by the time of the vote, meaning approving the paper trail would mean the money paid was wasted. In other words, the paper trail for 2022 is now out of question. #SupremeCourt [#STF] Justice #AlexandredeMoreas confined to four congressmen during a dinner last Monday that he thought they'd better make sure this issue didn't reach the STF in order to avoid further relationship deterioration between the institution and the executive power. The technology used in the current voting machines dates back to the 90's, and the fight against the voting machines without the paper trail dates back to the early 80's, when politician #LeonelBrizola won a lawsuit against an electronic vote in #RiodeJaneiro where he was able to prove there was fraud, with the company behind the voting machines recognizing it. He campaigned against voting machines until his death in 2004. This last Wednesday, De Moraes and another STF justice, #GilmarMendes, had a meeting with the leaders some those parties. Among the topics they discussed there were killing the paper trail bill early on in order to avoid it from getting to the #Senate or even the STF itself, and allowing 1000 voting machines to be audited before the elections instead of the usual 500. Bolsonaro expressed frustration during this weekly livestream on social media. He said he predicts the next election is going to be a mess, he won't allow that to happen, and urged the justices and the parties' presidents to rethink. TBB thinks Bolsonaro fails to act. Supreme Court justices interfering in politics like this seems unconstitutional, and this is just another unconstitutional act. We don't trying to convert them is the best course of action. #elections2022 #votingmachines #electronicvoting
  • “BARROSO, IT IS A LIE THAT THERE WILL BE [VOTING ON] PAPER BALLOT. YOU KNOW THAT. A JUSTICE OF THE #SUPREMECOURT [#STF] IS NOT SUPPOSED TO LIE. SO LET'S TELL THE TRUTH, DAMN IT!” President #Bolsonaro commenting on #SupremeCourt's [#STF] Justice #LuisBarroso activism against the paper trail by lying when saying the change is to go back to paper voting only. #elections2022 #votingmachine #electronicvoting #paperballot
  • President #Bolsonaro attended another motorcycle rally last weekend, this time in the city of #Chapeco, #SantaCatarina, and the attendance, again, was high. More than 10 thousand motorcycles.
  • President #Bolsonaro found himself again in the middle of another nothing-burger scandal in the last week. He's accused of letting gov't officials to accept bribery during the purchase of the Indian vaccine #Covaxin, made by #BharatBiotech. This bribery was denounced by Congressman #LuisMiranda. He gave interviews showing an invoice where the amount for the purchase of the vaccine was much above what has been paid to other makers. It had 300,000 doses for the total amount of 45,000,000 reals, or 150 reals each dose (about 29 dollars). Comparatively, the #SputnikV, #Coronavac, #Pfizer, #Janssen, and #AstraZeneca/#Oxford, cost 13, 11, 10, 10, and 3.16 dollars respectively. Miranda's brother is Chief of Importation of the Logistics Department of the Ministry of Health, and he was allegedly pressed to overlook and to sign the invoice. Miranda was summoned to speak at the committee on mismanagement of funds during the #pandemic, called #CPIdaCOVID (#COVIDProbe). On this day, Miranda showed up wearing body armor and holding a Bible. During his hearing, no other name was mentioned besides his brother's, #RicardoMiranda (which we will refer to by his first name to avoid confusion). After the hearing, Miranda left the building without the body armor and without the Bible. Soon, he had to appear again now accompanied by his brother so that the latter could give the name of the person who pressured him to overlook and authorize the invoice. Not only did Ricardo gave no names, but he also made revelations that implicated his brother. He didn't authorize the invoice, it was corrected three days later, and the purchase of Covaxin was never made. One senator asked Ricardo if he had informed his brother about the correction and he said, “THE [VACCINE] COMPANY AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE [DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY], YES [, I INFORMED THEM], BUT I DIDN'T INFORM MY BROTHER.” Another senator said that, by not letting his brother know that the invoice had been corrected, he led him to make a calumnious accusation. Ricardo responded, “I DON'T ANSWER FOR HIM.” Another senator asked him, “WERE YOU PRESSED TO ACCEPT THE [IRREGULAR] INVOICE?” Ricardo, “NO.” Senator, “DID ANYONE OFFER ANY ADVANTAGE OF ANY SORTS FOR YOU TO IGNORE POLICIES OR LOOSEN REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR THE IMPORTATION OF THE COVAXIN VACCINE?” Ricardo, “NO. THE ONLY DEMAND WAS THAT THE DOCUMENTATION SENT BY THE COMPANY HAD TO RECEIVE ALL THE PROTOCOLS BY #ANVISA [the Brazilian health regulatory agency].” Then, another senator, #OmarAziz, asked, “ARE YOU [Miranda] SAYING THE PRESIDENT KNOWS WHO WAS THE PERSON BEHIND THIS [PRESSURE FOR BRIBERY]?” Miranda, “YES.” Aziz, “WHO IS THE PERSON?” Miranda, “I DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE CONGRESSPERSON, THE NAME WAS LOOSELY MENTIONED IN A CONVERSATION.” Aziz, “IF WE GAVE YOU SOME NAMES, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO REMEMBER?” Miranda, “I DON'T REMEMBER, SIR.” Senator #RenanCalheiros asked Ricardo, “[DID] #PRECISAMEDICAMENTOS [Covaxin's representant in Brazil] TRY TO PUSH FOR THE PAYMENT [OF THAT AMOUNT FOR THAT QUANTITY] FOR THE COVAXIN?” Ricardo, “NO, NO.” Ricardo still tried to save Miranda's skin by saying that a colleague of his told him someone from the government asked for a bribe, but this friend never told him who this gov't person is and Ricardo didn't say who his colleague is so that the committee could summon him to get the gov't person's name. In a disclosed private conversation between Miranda and Bolsonaro on March 20th, where he tells the president about the invoice, Miranda says, “THE GOVERNMENT SPEAKS WITH MUCH TRANQUILITY—AND WHEN I SAY GOV'T I MEAN ONYX [#LORENZONI, President Bolsonaro's Chief of Staff]—THAT THE DOCUMENT WAS QUICKLY CORRECTED. IT WAS QUICKLY CORRECTED AFTER SEEING THE PRESIDENT.” In other words, Miranda was part of plan to try to get Bolsonaro accused of knowing about the invoice mistake, so that there could be grounds for an impeachment process, but the invoice was corrected 3 days later for the amount of 3,000,000 dollars, which then made the price per dose correct and the same as in 13 other countries, but still above all the other makers' vaccines; 15 dollars; and the purchase was never made. The plan to frame Bolsonaro was so bad that they didn't practice what his brother had to say during his hearing, and it did the opposite effect, botching the plan and making a fool out of Miranda. Precisa Medicamentos released a statement saying the negotiation process (which, again, was not approved) was entirely legal. The fake scandal was exposed, but Miranda still said there's something much bigger than [the scandal] that he can reveal, but many believe he's trying to drive the focus away from the mess he put himself into. 27 senators, though, still signed a resquest for the investigation on this nothing-burger scandal to extend for 90 more days, and they also want the #SupremeCourt (#STF) to get involved. All this noise about a documentation illegality that never happened for a purchase that never happened either. In February, Senator Aziz proposed a bill that would allow for states to be able to buy vaccines without a bid and ANVISA's approval of efficacy, and Miranda, during a radio interview not long ago, June 7th, said the #COVID Probe was all a farce, it was highly politicized, all about a political plan to take Bolsonaro down before 2022. Later this last week, while the two leaders of the committee had another person being heard, Miranda showed up out of nowhere and spoke to the ear of each of them both in front of everybody, which made some senators laugh in astonishment. Miranda was not even dressed properly and the security still let him be in the area and having access to the presidents, and the presidents didn't react badly, didn't reprimand Miranda, but rather listened patiently to what he was saying. He and Calheiros even shook hands.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • After a drug dealer known as #Dadinho died during a shooting with the police in #Manaus, state of #Amazon, criminals terrorized the city by setting fire to at least 29 vehicles including more than 15 buses, and also to banks, ambulances, police cars, and pulic buildings including basic health centers. A police station near the #AmazonRiver was machine gunned. The national guard was deployed to help the local police and dozens of arrests were made. The order for the attack came from inside a local state jail, and now some prisoners are being moved to federal prisons. Most public services and businesses were still closed this Tuesday. Even the vaccination was suspended. #terrorism
  • The #SupremeCourt (#STF) accepted judging a request from Congressman #JulioDelgado that asks for the soccer championship #CopaAmerica (#AmericaCup) not to take place in #Brazil due to the #pandemic. Until then, the STF had no business in ruling over this and didn't have to, but given their insatiable need for the spotlight solely to antagonize and destabilize the #Bolsonaro administration, they accepted it. #covid
  • #SaoPaulo governor João #Doria was seen enjoying a sunbath by the pool at a hotel in #RiodeJaneiro without wearing a mask. This wouldn't be news if he wasn't the top pro-pandemic restrictions guy among all Brazilian governors, and he recently asked people to travel only if extremely needed and to avoid agglomeration. #covid
  • Brazilian TV celebrity #JulianaPaes caused a stir among her colleagues when she criticized how senators treated doctor #NiseYamaguchi during the hearing on the mismanagement of the #pandemic. Yamaguchi was an open advocate of preventive treatment using #hydroxychloroquine, which prompted the #AlbertEinsteinHospital to fire her claiming her position damaged their image. Paes' position was supported by some and criticized by others, which led her to respond on social media by saying, “I AM NOT A BOLSOMINION [an unconditional supporter of President #Bolsonaro] AND A RIGHTWINGER, BUT I DO NOT SUPPORT THE COMMUNISTIC DELUSIONS OF THE EXTREME LEFT.” Some celebrities went nuts and kept criticizing her, but most comments from celebrities and fans were supportive.
  • The Army decided not to punish the Secretary (Minister) of Health #Pazuello for attending #Bolsonaro's motorcycle rally the Sunday before. Some people wanted him to be punished, even from the Army itself, because active duty military aren't supposed to attend political events, let alone speak at them, which he did.
  • The federal police made 25 searches in the state of #Amazon including at the Governor #WilsonLima's home, and they also arrested temporarily the state's secretary the department of health. According to the police, there is evidence that high profile state employees facilitated contracts for a temporary hospital that benefited private companies with the knowledge of the governor. The hospital isn't even adequate for basic service. #covid #pandemic

  • President #Bolsonaro and the state attorney-general requested the #SupremeCourt (#STF) to rule on the unconstitutionality of lockdown and curfew measures that cities and states are putting up again. A similar request, but directed to other states in March, was rejected by the STF, and this makes many believe they will reject this new one too. But, a lot of other people are expecting that the STF is going to rule against the measures this time because the request is better formulated—an observation made by a judge-minister—and also because Bolsonaro said a couple of weeks ago that he has a decree ready to be signed that would force a military action against any city or state administrator that puts a curfew or lockdown in action. #pandemic #covid #lockdown
  • #MarcoAurelio de Melo, one of the #SupremeCourt's (#STF) judge-ministers, expressed opposition to the Senate #pandemic commission hearing some governors due to accusations of federal money misuse. His opinion (which he isn't supposed to be giving) is based on the idea that the responsability to form commissions to investigate their administration is of the local houses. On the other side, the argument is that the local houses seem to be under total control of their administrators, either a governor or a mayor, and not a single commission to investigate any misuse of money was formed in any of the 27 states or in any of the 5,000 plus cities across the country. #covid
  • The #SupremeCourt (#STF) voted 7-4 to deny the federal police the request to investigate the STF Judge-Minister and President Dias #Toffoli for receiving 4 million reals to help politicians in election processes while he was the president of the #SupremeElectoralCourt (#STE). No one is surprised by this decision.
  • The #Bolsonaro administration is trying to pass a bill that forces fuel taxes to be shown separately on the consumers' receipt, and not just that, but also which entity is charging that amount, if it is the distributor, the gov't, or the state. The bill has been facing difficulty to go for a vote due to pressure from governors (the #SupremeCourt (#STF) has also been making it difficult) since they are charging their taxes on top of the final price and based on the final price, which is considered unconstitutional.
  • It is believed President #Bolsonaro's last motorcycle rally in #RiodeJaneiro reached 2.6 miles in length.
  • The president of the #Senate commission to investigate money misuse during the #pandemic, Senator #OmarAziz, presented a bill that would give doctors 3 years of jail time if they ever prescribed any medicine for #COVID except the vaccine. President #Bolsonaro decided to make it public on his social media, and the backlash was so intense that Aziz requested its permanent dismissal just 30 minutes later.
  • The governor of #SaoPaulo, João #Doria, decided to extent the business reopening transition from May 31st to June 14th, and in some cities, even essential businesses, like, pharmacies and supermarkets, are closed. #RibeiraoPreto is one of these cities. Just a reminder, cities in the State of São Paulo, the City of São Paulo mainly, allowed the public transportation, buses and trains, to operate at a lower capacity and thus crowded for over a year. #pandemic #covid
  • A movement that seeks to sue the City of #SaoPaulo for keeping schools closed, called 'Portas Abertas' ('Open Doors'), has encouraged a broader demand for other mayors and for governors to be called into accountability for not letting cities open their schools. The argument for this is that there are studies worldwide suggesting that opening schools, even if partially, does not represent a considerable risk, especially the earlier education. They claim that businesses that do not have the same kind of comprehensive study and that serve others than children were allowed to open. 10 out of the 27 states (one is not a state, but a federal district, #DistritoFederal, just like #Washington DC) have partially opened schools, but Open Doors claims this opening is too restrictive to be considered adequate. For instance, they are letting children of health workers and children in serious circumstances (for instance, homeless or abused) to attend it. In #Brazil, there is this Law of Accountability, which was the one on which ex-President #Dilma's impeachment was based. Among the reasons for a public administrator to break this law is abuse of power, and keeping schools closed when there has been neither consensus for that nor a single standard being applied can be considered abuse of power. #covid #pandemic #lockdown
  • The #Congress probe into #COVID-related actions approved the hearing of 9 governors; from #Amapa, #Amazon, #DistritoFederal, #Para, #Piaui, #Rondonia, #Roraima, #SantaCatarina, and #Tocantins. #WilsonWitzel, the impeached ex-governor of #RiodeJaneiro, will be heard too. Other people are going to be heard as well. The governor of Piaui is a member of a consortium composed by some Northeastern states, and there is a separate probe into this consortium. Some representatives wanted mayors to be heard, but none was included. #pandemic
  • The #Bolsonaro administration is following the steps of #Florida Governor #DeSantis and has already prepared a bill that prohibits social media platforms from removing accounts and posts solely based on their terms of use. The bill was written by a team in the Ministry (Department) of Culture, and a subsecretary called National Secretary of Copyrights and Intellectual Property would be in charge of its effectiveness. If it's signed, social media platforms can receive from a warning up to a fine of up to 10% of the company's revenue in Brazil in the year prior to the offense. #socialmedia #censorship #bigtech

  • Ex-president #FernandoHenriqueCardoso (#FHC) had lunch with Ex-president #Lula at Ex-#SupremeCourt (#STF) judge-minister #NelsonJobim's home to make political peace with Lula. FHC was president two times in the 90's and until early 2000's, and his administration was responsible for the creation of Brazil's current money, the real. He and Lula were, back then, the biggest representations of the right and the left, respectively, with their parties fiercily opposing each other. Just a couple of years ago FHC was recorded on video saying, “I HEARD DURING 13 YEARS SOMEONE [Lula] SAY, 'NEVER BEFORE [IN THIS COUNTRY SUCH A GOOD THING WAS DONE/HAPPENED]. ACTUALLY, NEVER BEFORE THERE WAS SO MUCH ROBBERY. [...] BRAZIL IS BROKEN! BRAZIL WAS BROKEN BY PT [Workers Party], IT WAS BROKEN BY THE LULOPETISM, AND THIS CURRENT CRISIS, AS GOVERNOR #ALCKMIN PUTS IT, 'WILL HAVE A HIGH COST ON BRAZILIANS.' [...] IN THE US, I WAS RECENTLY PAID A HOMAGE, AND THEY SAID I LOST POPULARITY. POPULARITY WE LOSE AND WE REGAIN. WHAT I NEVER LOST WAS MY CREDIBILITY.” Many political analysts are struggling to see the strategy behind FHC's support for Lula. He basically threw himself and his party under the bus, since his party was trying to picture itself as a third, a moderate alternative. They have not convincing too many, but some PSDB politicians have been doing a reasonable job, meaning people's perspective on them was not getting bad at a high rate, so we thought they were trying to keep the rate slower until it stopped and then get back to go up. What could be going on there? Does FHC and the PSDB has a heck of a card under their sleeve that's beyond any political analyst can guess? Is it desperation? Is it FHC saying “effe the world” and coming out (before he dies) as the leftist he always was inside? Is it some kind of pressure beyond the party's power to control?
  • The decision of the #SupremeCourt (#STF) whether the federal police will be allowed to investigate the STF's president #Toffoli for being accused of receiving millions in bribery to help candidates in electoral complication when he was the president of the #SupremeElectionCourt (#STE) will come out on Friday. There is a lot of doubt this permission will be granted, since an eventual arrest of such a high profile judge (if he ever steps a foot in jail, which is already a far-fetched scene in Brazil) could result in a chain reaction and could affect other judge-ministers, some suggest.
  • The ex-minister of health Eduardo #Pazuello, who is a military, attended the motorcycle rally organized by President #Bolsonaro and now some military and the opposition is asking for his punishment for the fact that he is an ative-duty general, and as such, he could not attend political events. If he is, he'll become a reserve. After he left the ministry, he got a job near the presidency so he could continue close to Bolsonaro. Him becoming a reserve, at least politically speaking, doesn't do him any bad, since he left the ministry with a good approval rate, a great relationship with the administration, no apparent rejection from most people regarding his performance while dealing with the #COVID crisis in #Manaus, and many others are trying to convince him to run for governor of his homestate #RiodeJaneiro.
  • President #Bolsonaro organized another motorcycle rally this last Sunday, this time in #RiodeJaneiro, and the number of riders is already, and by far, the largest of any motorcycle event ever hosted there. The fact that he is the president played a factor, obviously, but the massive attendance is one (more) evidence that he is not the “most unpopular president in history” the big old marxist mainstream media tries to sell 24/7. At the end of rally, #Bolsonaro spoke to the attendees.
  • The Federal Police foiled a school shooting from happening in #Brasilia. It was an American agency that informed the Brazilian police about a 19-year-old girl who was planning to commit #massshootings in several places. She has already confessed to the plan, but police has not released her name yet because they apparently have evidence that she is linked to some group.
  • Last week, President #Bolsonaro made a surprise helicopter landing on a public soccer field at a small city called #SenadorLaRocque in the State of #Maranhao, an allegedly leftist stronghold, as is known to be the Brazilian northeastern states, but the amount of people that gathered to express support contrasts with the unpopular image the big old mainstream media tries to sell 24/7, that is that he is the most unpopular president in history.
  • Journalist #OswaldoEstaquio, arrested twiced by the #SupremeCourt (#STF) and left paralyzed from waist down on the second time, when then reports said he had suffered an accident at hospital, spoke last week to the police about the event and made some revelations. He said that when he got to the detention center in December 18th last year, a police officer called him 'animal' because he was refusing to eat in protest for how he was being treated—he was accused, judged, and arrested by order of one judge-minister of the STF, #AlexandredeMoraes, which is considered unconstitutional. Not even a formal police report De Moraes made. Estáquio insulted the officer back the same way. The prison guard, in retaliation, told the other prisoners that, because of Eustáquio's misbehavior, they would not have their sunbath time and he was going to be punished. He was taken to the solitary, where, on the way, a police officer was telling him what to say and how to respond to an officer. At some point, he was slapped on his face, and at the end of the hall to the solitary, he was hit with a baton. Swearing and beating followed, and they demanded he called himself 'animal.' At some moment, “ONE OF THEM DID AN ARM WRENCH ON ME, THEN ANOTHER OFFICER GOT AHOLD OF MY OTHER ARM. A THIRD OFFICER CAME TOWARDS ME WITH A BATON AND STARTED TO CHOKE ME WITH IT. I FELT PAIN EVERYWHERE AND I RAN OUT OF BREATH. I WOKE UP SHIRTLESS AND WITH MANY BRUISES.” On the 21st he was quickly taken to hospital. A foresinc exam was not performed. One congresswoman, #BiaKicis, today chair of the Constitution Commission in the Congress, went there to give support to his wife (who had already been part of the Ministry of Human Rights' staff) and to help her have access to him, but police barely let her. Eustáquio is in home arrest for being paralyzed. Only a very small part of his interview was released, where he doesn't name any of the officers or give any details about how he got paralyzed.

  • On International Day of Families, President #Bolsonaro received tens of thousands of supporters in front of the Planalto Palace. People going by themselves and them wearing the Brazilian colors and waving the Brazilian flag were in a stark contrast to when ex-president #Lula gathered people there, wearing red and waving red flags, and many of them being paid and fed, and given a ride in order to attend it.
  • #SaoPaulo Mayor #BrunoCovas died today. He was in the ICU and the hospital had released a statement a couple of days ago saying his condition was irreversible. He had adenocarcinoma. Covas started having problems in 2019, but was able to keep working during his treatment. He was much criticized for his opposition to President #Bolsonaro, for his strong lockdown measures, and also for not obeying his own orders. #covid #pandemic
  • According to the opinion poll #Datafolha, the infamous Marxist and ex-president #Lula, whose charges of corruption were nullified by the #SupremeCourt (#STF) recently, wins over #Bolsonaro in the first round and with a good margin. This is the same push #Biden got by a large part of the media and of opinion polls. If Bolsonaro doesn't get paper trail to be approved and added to the voting machines to avoid election fraud, nobody will be able to prove the contrary if Lula's elected (because it's inconceivable that he wins if the Bolsonaro administration keeps going as it's been).
  • The Ministry (Department) of Economy, whose minister is #PauloGuedes, was able to get passed a law that will help companies save thousands of reals a year with newspapers. Until then, companies listed in the stock market were forced to pay the printing press to publish their annual balance. With the internet, social media, and cell phones, there's no need for this. The printing press should lose 150 million reals per year, but some kinds of companies still have to pay for that. The gov't will try to extend this change to all companies.
  • The #SupremeCourt (#STF) voted 8-3 to limit in 20 years the time for medical patents to expire, and this is not for new patents only, but any patent that has already exceeded 20 years. Some say this could be a bad move as it could drive labs away or keep labs from being installed in Brazil. In the #UnitedStates, it's 20 years.
  • A consortium composed of 9 governors from the Northeast of Brazil ordered nearly 49 million reals in ventilators from a company called #HempcarePharma (specialized in selling products related to the cannabis). The ventilators were never delivered and some people have already been arrested, including the owner, #CristianaPrestes, and her business partner, #LuizHenriqueRamos, but they were released after being heard by the police. She said they'd bring the ventilators from #China but noticed there was some issue with them only later. They then offered Brazilian-made ventilators instead and for a cheaper price, primising to deliver 480 units instead of 300. Problem is, the Brazilian ones were never approved by the regularoty agency (#Anvisa). #BrunoDauster, then secretary of the house staff in #Bahia, tried to solve the problem by convincing Prestes to increase the value of the contract in 52%, to which she refused, saying she didn't want to “RAPE THE STATE.” Prestes said she was surprised to receive all the money up front and so quickly (not common in this kind of contract in #Brazil), two days after the contract was signed. Also, Prestes was surprised when she received an order from a judge in #Araraquara, State of #SaoPaulo, to sign a donation document, since the mayor, #EdinhoSilva, informed he had ordered 30 ventilators and had not received any, and that they'd be paid by the consortium. #CarlosGarbas was assigned executive secretary of the consortium and was the person behind all the negotiations and contacts. Garbas has been involved in several corrupt cases, and his ascension to power came while he was ex-President #Dilma's driver, when he got a temporary employement in government as a senator's assistant making a lot more money. From then on, he kept moving up and growing in influence, became minister more than once. It's Garbas who made this deal with Araraquaras' mayor, which Prestes was not aware of. In other words, this #COVID committee, if going in the right direction, will reveal and clarify a myriad of intricate corruption like this one case seems to be.
  • The #PDT Party sent a request to the #SupremeCourt (#STF) to charge President #Bolsonaro for the crime of “excessively promoting” the preventive use of #hydroxychloroquine and other medications during the #pandemic.
  • During the police operation in #Jacarezinho Favela which resulted in one police officer and 27 criminals dead (and some others injured, including citizens) police found documents about the operation, suggesting someone in the department is leaking information.
  • The #PCC (Capital's First Command, one of Brazil's criminal organizations) is accused of laundering money diverted from the #pandemic help sent to #RiodeJaneiro.
  • #Twitter was not allowing a video to play where it shows the ex-president of the Senate and now president of a suspicious committee to investigate irregularities committed during the #pandemic #RenanCalheiros (one the perfect stereotypes of the “successful” Brazilian corrupt) throwing a tantrum when a senator suggests that they invite the federal police director to attend and help with the committee. #covid
  • Ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, commonly referred to by Brazilians as #FHC, said in a recent interview about ex-president #Lula running in 2022 “MAKE DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE” (or literally, “IF YOU CAN'T HUNT WITH A DOG, HUNT WITH A CAT), only confirming (once more) that he and his party, the #PSDB, differs nothing from the infamous leftwing #PT, except in the manners, being more diplomatic and keeping a profile low when it comes to pushing their Marxist agenda. #marxism
  • During President #Bolsonaro's daily stop to talk to supporters last week, a woman said “IN #FOZDOIGUACU, THEY ARE ALREADY TALKING ABOUT LOCKING PEOPLE DOWN AGAIN,” to which he replied “I ALREADY SENT THE MESSAGE I WANTED TO. FROM NOW ON, I'M GOING TO TAKE ACTION.” What he means by this is that he will take action against any mayor or governor that imposes a lockdown from now on, since, under the current circumstances, it's nearly unanimously considered to be unconstitutional.
  • The #SupremeCourt (#STF) Judge-Minister #Barroso, who said “WE DON'T FIX WHAT'S NOT BROKEN” referring to the wish of #conservatives and President #Bolsonaro to add paper trail to the voting machines, has started a campaign to push back in the hopes of getting enough votes in #Congress to block this change. He already posted three videos on YouTube. Among many things, he says “[THIS CAMPAIGN] IS ABOUT THE SECURITY, THE TRANSPARENCY, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF AUDIT OF THE BRAZILIAN PROCESS,” and also “IN THE VOTING MACHINES AND IN THE BRAZILIAN PROCESS YOU CAN TRUST.” The proposed system will allow the machine to print the vote so the voter can see it, but the voter won't be able to touch it; they will see it through a glass window. If the number and name on the paper is correct, the voter confirms it and the machine deposits the paper into a ballot box. It's two ways of auditing against one; but Barroso, who has been having a shameful role in the STF, is all in for pushing back on this change. The first video of the justice Barroso got 10,000 views and 95% dislikes, his second one got 38,000 views and 94% dislikes, and his third and latest one got 44,000 views and 89% dislike (as of May 15th). The comments are overwhelmingly negative and hostile to Barroso and the STF, showing how infamous and unpopular the Supreme Court is to the eyes of Brazilians. Unfortunately, even if #Congress approves the paper trail, the STF has the authority to block it, and the chances of them blocking it is high.

  • Yesterday, prosecutor #ThaisPossati, 35 and in her 27th week of pregnancy, took the #AstraZeneca/#Fiocruz shot, suffered a stroke, was taken to an ER, but her and her baby died. There's no information on if she already had any serious health condition. A few hours later, #ANVISA (the health regulatory agency) posted a recommendation for pregnant women not to be given the AstraZeneca/Fiocruz vaccine. Unfortunately, many people (although a minority) who don't have a serious health condition and are young are taking the #COVID shot on their own. TBB doesn't know if this was Thais' case.
  • The Feds asked the #SupremeCourt (#STF) for an authorization to open an investigation on the STF Judge-Minister #DiasToffoli. This a first in the history of #Brazil. #Toffoli was informed on by #SergioCabral for receiving payments totalling 4 million reals in bribery while he was one of the judge-ministers of the #ElectoralSupremeCourt in order to judge in favor of two mayors in the State of #RiodeJaneiro. Cabral was Rio's governor from 2007 to 2014, when he resigned to avoid losing his political rights. After becoming a defendand for the tenth time in 2017, he was sentenced to 14 years in jail. He became a defendent again and again, receiving further sentencing, and he has now accumulated more than 280 years. His sentencing is in a stark contrast to how high profile politicians are held accountable in Brazil. #Lula, for instance, recently had all his charges dropped. There's little doubt all this sentencing is a retaliation agaisnt Cabral. Toffoli was STF's president from 2018 to 2020, just when an avalanche of requests for further investigations were sent to the STF following Cabral's hearing, twelve in total, and Toffoli, as president, dismissed every single one of them. The question now is if the STF will authorize this investigation on Toffoli. Some say the STF has no way out, that dismissing the request means looking bad for them, giving the impression that Toffoli is hiding something and his colleagues are giving him cover. But, considering that an investigation on Toffoli can lead to the implication of other big fish, and that the STF already looks quite bad before the population due to their several and recent controversial rulings and that they don't seem to care, the chances of this request being denied is quite high, and if it is, there's nothing the Feds can do.