THE BRAZILIAN BOT

SantaCatarina

  • SUPER SHORT: 1 of 12: The request from two senators for the financial disclosure of major #rightwing news outlets #CriticaNacional, #JornaldaCidadeOnline, #JovemPan, #RenovaMidia, #TercaLivre, and #SensoIncomum, and also film producer #BrasilParalelo will be voted this next week. The senators claim they have spread misinformation during the #pandemic. #covid 2 of 12: The #Cinemateca Brasileira, institution in charge of preserving audiovisual material, caught fire for the fifth time last 29th. The previous times were in 1957, 11 years after it was created due to auto combustion; then, in 1969, in 1982, and in 2016. #cinema 3 of 12: Brazil had 1.5 million jobs created during the first 6 months of this year, 300 thousand in June alone. 4 of 12: “IT'S WORTH REMINDING YOU THAT OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM EXISTS ONLY IN #BHUTAN, #BANGLADESH, AND #BRAZIL.” President #Bolsonaro on how trustworthy our electoral system is. #electionfraud #elections 5 of 12: The #COVIDProbe is trying to get representants of #Facebook, #Google (#YouTube), and #Twitter to attend a hearing so they can be questioned about their role in preventing misinformation related to the #pandemic, but they've been trying to convince some senators to help keep them out of it. Based on a few recent rulings, against them, they can face more problems than what they have had in the States. 6 of 12: The #SupremeCourt (#STF) ruled in favor of cities in the State of #SantaCatarina to take action against people who refuse to take the #vaccine or who want to pick and choose. #covid 7 of 12: In #SaoPaulo, a judge ruled in favor of a company that fired an employee for refusing to get the #COVID shot, arguing that the interest of an individual can't trump the collective. 8 of 12: Due to pressure, the #StateAccountingCourt (#TCU) admitted that some of their employees had access to citizens' (including politicians) financial records through the #ReceitaFederal (our #IRS) without a warrant. #FlavioBolsonaro, one of President #Bolsonaro's sons, was one of them. 9 of 12: President #Bolsonaro has yielded his allies a long time wish for him to speak to the media more often. He should start giving interviews to radio, TV, and social media shows every day. The idea is that he reach people who are more into listening to local media. 10 of 12: 11 out of the 23 #Bolsonaro ministers are considering running for office next year, most of them for a seat in the #Senate. 11 of 12: 11,000 public servants were hired during the #Bolsonaro administration. The replacement rate of positions vacated by retired servants is at a record low. There are 208,000 public servants at the moment. During Lula, the number reached 333,000. 12 of: 12 161 billion reals were spent with public servants when #FHC took office in 1995. It was 215 when he left. During Lula's first term, it reached 235, and 307 during his second term. 336, Dilma. During Temer, it reached 337. It was 286 in 2019, and 285 in 2020. Considering the inflation, that 1995's figure would be equivalent to more than 700 billion reals today.

  • Every Thursday, President #Bolsonaro broadcasts a livestream and talks about things that happened during the preceding week. He had set up to have a special one a couple of weeks ago to show evidence of electoral fraud and how the Brazilian system, totally electronic, no paper trail, is untrustworthy. Due to him getting sick, he postponed it to last Thursday. He showed a video of a computer expert making simulations of how the vote could be manipulated automatically and during specific times in order to avoid it being noticed during pre and post-election day audits (which audit only 500 of them, possibly machines that do not contain any hacked code). Then, he showed videos from across the country showing voters at voting stations complaining that their number was either changed or not registered, some of them while they were still front of the voting machine. There was almost no complaints from people who voted for leftist candidates, but mostly from people who vote 17, Bolsonaro's number. Next, they showed the numbers of votes and vote progress in each region, and also election analyst talking about the partial results. At a specific moment the partial result was 47, 59, 76, and 87% in the Northeast, North, Middlewest, and South region, respectively, but it was just 11% in the Southeast region. Although the number of voters in the Southeast region is about 1.6x higher than the Northeast's and 3.7x higher than the North's, it is the most technologically advanced, second only to the South, which have made some people wonder the reason why the number of votes counted in the Southeast was 4 times lower than the closest one, the North, and nearly 9 times lower than the South. One data poll expert from #IBOPE says in a video that the then trend, Bolsonaro ahead in the Southeast, even though only 11% had been counted, wouldn't change, according to local polls, and that him winning in the first round was mostly a sure thing. When the speed of counting (or processing) of votes from the Southeast picked up, Bolsonaro's large advantage in this region to the second, nearly double the votes, never stopped decreasing. The Southeast to be the last region to reach the highest partial result had never happened before. When questioned why that was happening, the #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#STE) released a statement saying it was due to an error in data processing by an outsourced company, but no further details about this error was ever disclosed. As Bolsonaro had 49% of the votes when the Southeast's count processing progress was at 11%, his advantage never increased, which seems odd, since he was solidly ahead in that region, and the remaining 89% would be enough to making him break the 50 and be elected in the first round — considering that the Southeast has a much larger population compared to the North and Northeast, where he was losing but the partial result was 5 times ahead. In the following part, it's shown a video about candidates in the Northeast that received no votes. Then, in another city also in the Northeast, the access log to the voting machines contained an entry of access on a day that had not been registered at the local notary, which was mandatory, and the video shows one employee of the notary looking for such a record and finding none. 12 out of the 11 elected city councilors were closely connected to the mayor. The video also shows that some of the files in some voting machines in that city were different from what was in its place prior to the election. Another case is about a situation in a city where 38% of the voting machines presented were showing the right candidate name but the wrong photo. It could be considered a mistake by the programmer, but it was found out that 9 voting machine flash cards were processed, but the election station had only two machines. After this case, Bolsonaro commented about the fact that, in the very beginning, in the 90's, when the vote became electronic, the partial results were updated quickly, and partial results in paper printed from machines were posted next to the voting station door for party supervisors to take note of them, but more and more cases of long update interruptions and of stopping printing the partial local result started happening here and there every new election. In another case, in 2014 during the election for president, #Aecio vs #Dilma, Aécio was well ahead of her, then the distance was getting small until Dilma surpassed him. At this point, though, for the next 240+ minutes, with the system updating at every minute, the leader switched every single time, something considered by experts nearly impossible to happen in practical terms. It's like getting heads in one flipping of a coin and tails in the next, for 240 consecutive times. The next case was of the election for mayor of #SaoPaulo last year, the result of the 1st round, where the position of the 8 first candidates never changed one single digit from when the result was between 0.34% and 100%. Only the decimals changed, but never one digit (#BrunoCovas from 32.58 to 32.85%, #GuilhermeBoulos from 20.33 to 20.24%, #MarcioFranca from 13.95 to 13.64%, #CelsoRussomano from 10.44 to 10.50%, #ArthurdoVal from 9.74 to 9.87%, #JilmarTatto from 8.79 to 8.65%, #AndreaMatarazzo from 1.67 to 1.55%, and #JoiceHasselmann from 1.60 to 1.84%). Through other sources, we could find a graphic showing that the numbers only had big changes, between 3 and 8% for the first 3 positions, during the first 16 minutes, but after then, the candidates' percentage didn't change a single digit. This was also considered unlikely given that #SaoPaulo has significant population density differences among districts of different political preferences. Bolsonaro compared this one to a #Formula1 race where all the competitors finished the race in the same position they started. During this live, the #TSE posted a correction on #Twitter saying, “#INDIA, #RUSSIA, #FRANCE, AND THE #UNITEDSTATES ARE AMONG THE COUNTRIES THAT USE ENTIRELY ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS. 27 COUNTRIES USE ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS.” International Affairs Advisor #FelipeMartins was aware of the tweet and quickly replied to the TSE: “FALSE. 30 COUNTRIES USE ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES, 27 OF WHICH USE A SECOND GENERATION MACHINE THAT PRINTS A PAPER TRAIL.” Before Bolsonaro's election in 2018, the TSE and the #Congress were in favor of the paper trail. The latter approved it in 2015 and the TSE had authorized its use in 2018, releasing a video defending the paper trail that was broadcast on public TV channels nationwide in 2017. The #SupremeCourt (#STF) vetoed it in 2018, and since then most congressmen, after one of the STF justices started meeting publicly with several party presidents, and after the same justice became the president of the TSE—we're talking about Justice #LuisBarroso—both institutions changed idea and turned against the paper trail. The TSE never officially explained why they changed their opinion, never released any technical and comprehensive statement explaining the change. In 2019, the paper trail had been approved during a preliminary vote in #Congress by a nearly absolute majority—although Congress had already approved it during a regular vote in 2015. Now the STF and the TSE are analyzing if Bolsonaro committed some wrongdoing during this live, among the possibilities, according to the STF and TSE, spreading fake news about the electoral system, presenting invalid evidence, and campaigning ahead of time. #electionfraud #elections

  • A new government welfare program is set to start before the end of the year. It should benefit 17 million Brazilians. The current program is called #BolsaFamilia and it was started during #Lula's first term. It is the gathering of previous separate programs created during #FHC. President #Bolsonaro's Minister of Economy #PauloGuedes was critical of the Bolsa Família, saying that the current program does nothing to encourage people from leaving it, and the new program should address this issue. Details on how it will work is yet to be released.

  • A judge ordered #Google to reinstate a video from a doctor called #MarcosFalcao or they'll have to pay a fine of up to 500,000 reals if they don't reinstate it until today. Falcão's channel is on, but he's been suspended. This was his second strike. Google claimed he gave information contrary to the #WHO's and local medical institutions' recommendations, but they never mentioned what institutions these are. The doctor received the strike on a video where he comments President #Bolsonaro's claims on prevention and treatment against the #COVID that were considered wrong but later proved right by the WHO. The doctor sued Google after the first strike and won, and Google had to pay him up to 50 thousand reals if the video weren't reinstated. It wasn't and he received nothing. Google didn't even care to defend themselves. In the second video, Falcão was talking about people who got the shot and were infected and reinfected. #pandemic

  • #EdivandadeAzevedo was elected city councilor in the City of #Ibaretama, State of #Ceara. She was elected as a #PTParty member, the same party of #DilmaRousseff and #Lula. She had to attend her oath of office ceremony online and from her jail cell. Azevedo was charged with participating as an accomplice to the murder of 7 people in a house, including a 7-year-old child. Her two brothers were the murderers.

  • The previous Saturday, the statue of Bandeirante #BorbaGato was set on fire by a mob in the city of #SaoPaulo — '#Bandeirantes' (literally 'flag carriers') were responsible for Brazil's expansion westward beyond the #TordesillasLine. The alleged motivation was that he oppressed and killed indigenous people — or, #revisionism. The action was well planned. A closed small truck arrived at the place, a bunch of people got out from the back of it, some surrounding the statue with tires, and others closing the road by mounting a line of tires, forcing drivers to drive on the sidewalk. The action took about a minute and a half until the fire was set. The fire didn't last long enough to damage beyong the painting. The plates of the truck were covered, but they forgot to cover a phone number on the side of the truck, allowing police to track the driver's address. They went to his home and arrested him early last Sunday, but he was released the next day claiming he didn't know anything, that he was surprised by a mob while he was working, and forced to help them. The driver was later identified in photos attending a meeting with some members of the #PSOLParty ('Socialism and Liberty Party'), where their candidate for president in 2018 and for governor of #SaoPaulo in 2020, #GuilhermeBoulos, is seen sitting one chair from him. It's not uncommon for criminals, when associated to a party, to be associated with PSOL. President #Bolsonaro's stabber, for instance, was a PSOL member for some years. #marxism

  • The Saturday before, the left went to the streets in #SaoPaulo to rally against the #Bolsonaro administration. The attendance was good. One could barely see any Brazilian flags or pieces of clothing with any of the Brazilian colors, but nearly only things in red. One demonstrator was caught saying people in his group received 70 reals to attend it. Again, acts of violence and vandalism and also confrontation with the police flooded the #socialmedias.

  • The #COVIDProbe (#CPIdaCOVID) requested the disclosure of Secretary of the Ministry of Health #MayraPinheiro after she spoke at the investigation hearing, even though she has not been formally accused or charged of anything. She demanded that the committee kept her information under protection, the committee gave her the guarantee, but a lot of the disclosed material; professional and personal documents and chats; were leaked to the press. She's now suing one of the members of the committee, #OmarAziz, for the leak.

  • French President Emmanuel #Macron gave Brazilian Senator #RandolfeRodrigues the award #LegiondHonneur, the highest commendation. According to Macron, “FOR HIS PARTICIPATION IN FIGHTING THE #PANDEMIC, FOR HIS PASSIONATE DEFENSE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND DEFENSE OF THE #PARISACCORD.” Rodrigues is the vice-president of the #COVIDProbe committee. He's the only politician and the only Brazilian to have received such an award this year. Rodrigues has no awarded (by any Brazilian organization) achievements in environmentalism and in the proper handling of the pandemic, and he's also a strong oppositor of the #Bolsonaro administration. Macron is also a strong oppositor, to the point of posting a fake photo of the #Amazon on fire (creating problems for the government) and never apologizing. #covid

  • President #Bolsonaro has appointed Senator #CiroNogueira for Secretary of State. Nogueira has a history of strongly supporting the left. He said that ex-convict and president #Lula should run again, he supported Bolsonaro's running oppositor in 2018, #FernandoHaddad, and also said that Bolsonaro was a #Fascist. He was also a target during the #LavaJato (#CarWash) operation, but the #SupremeCourt (#STF) rejected taking the case against him. His mother, #ElianeNogueira, also a leftist, will take his place in the #Senate. Responding to criticism during a radio interview, Bolsonaro argued, “PEOPLE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED. IF PEOPLE ELECT POLITICIANS TO COMPOSE THE #CONGRESS AND THE SENATE, 594 HEADS, PEOPLE WHO ARE PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS, I'M GOING TO HAVE TO NEGOTIATE WITH THEM. I WON'T BE A DICTATOR. Nogueira is replacing #OnixLorenzoni, a reliable rightwinger, and the latter is moving to newly-created Secretary of Employment and Retirement, which is composed of part of the team from the Ministry of Labor (which had been incorporated into the Ministry of Economy). The issue with Lorenzoni (and General #LuizRamos in a parallel secretary [secretary of state]) was the fact that he had to negotiate and find consensus with the majority in #Congress, but this is mostly composed of leftist to moderate-leftist politicians, and he and General Ramos are the opposite in terms of professional attitude, which resulted in the government having a broken communication and a poor handling of the Congress as a whole. The change is also in time before too much pressure could build up for removing Lorenzoni and Gen Ramos, as happened to other reliable allies such as ex-Minister of Environment #RicardoSalles and ex-Minister of Education #AbrahamWeintraub, among others). Nogueira is considered an easy transit among reps and senators, he's part of their communication culture and behavior attitude, which means any Congress dissatisfaction with the government won't mean them looking for alternative actions for not feeling comfortable to reach the presidency.

  • Representative #JoiceHasselmann, who was a #Bolsonaro supporter and ally during his campaign and flipped 180 after their election, posted a video on #Instagram showing a black eye, a bruise on her chin and some other parts of her body, broken teeth, and a rib injury, saying that she woke up in a pool of blood, that she was attacked, and that her husband was at home but sleeping in a different room due to his snoring (and this, along with the rooms being big, he couldn't hear what happened). When some people suggested she was trying to cover up a beating by her husband, she stated, “IT'S EASIER FOR ME TO BEAT HIM UP THAN HIM DARING TO RAISE HIS HAND TOWARDS ME. [...] HE IS A PRINCE AND INCAPABLE OF GIVING MY CAT A SIMPLE TAP.” She says the only thing she remembers was that she was watching a TV show in her apartment living room. Hasselmann said that she suspects of a congressman, but didn't give any name. She leaves in an apartment complex built by the government for congresspeople who don't have a home of their own in #Brasilia. The buildings have 24/7 security guards and also security cameras. Footage from 16 cameras were analyzed and nothing strange was found, no stranger was seen in the building and going into her apartment. No security guard saw any strange movement either. According to the police, she spent 5 straight days at home until the day she went to hospital. She also refused to take a drug test. Besides her husband being home, she never called for his help, but crawled to the bathroom and, there, she called a friend. She hired an attorney known as #Kakay to follow the case. Kakay is also famous for being corrupt politicians' favorite attorney. This is not the first time something strange happens to her and nobody can explain. Experts and regular citizens say her testimonies contain significant inconsistencies and gaps in her and her husband's accounts, leaving them with the impression it was a domestic violence case, and, for some reason, she wouldn't be willing to expose him, and so she had to come up with something in order to justify her injuries.

  • The #FederalPolice has been investigating embezzled money from the government by states and cities, and says that the amount has reached 4 billion reals so far. Among the corrupt cases identified in the investigation, there is this one that involves entrepreneur #CristianaTaddeo, who had an underwear factory and a cannabis-based medicine importation company called #HempCarePharma. The latter had only two employees, but it was awarded a contract for the production of 300 ventilators (called 'respirators' in Portuguese because the etymological equivalent to 'ventilator,' 'ventilador,' is already used to describe a 'fan') for 48 million reals ahead of time for the #NortheastConsortium, a group composed by all 9 states of the Northeastern region of Brazil and created in 2019 to foster regionwide policies, to strengthen national and international representation, and to bargain price by making large-volume purchases. It was also a way they found to strengthen their opposition to the #Bolsonaro administration, since this region is considered a stronghold for leftist politicians. Not only wasn't a single ventilator ever delivered, but HempCare also never refunded the consortium. The company was going to import the devices from #China. The contract had an item that demanded that an international insurance was made in order to protect the buyer, the consortium, but this item was changed at the last moment and the insurance would only cover the purchase once the ventilators left China, which never did. #pandemic #covid

  • The Public Prosecutors' Office is accusing #RenanFilho, Northeastern State of #Alagoas' governor, of his administration paying 39 million reals in bonuses through the #SUS ('Sistema Único de Saúde,' or 'Single Health System'), our public health care, without accounting records. It would be “just” another corruption scandal among many carried out by big politicians if he wasn't the son of #RenanCalheiros, one of the members of the #COVIDProbe, which investigates misuse of public money during the #pandemic. #covid

  • SUPER SHORT: 1/13: The Minister of Citizenship #JoaoRoma announced the launch of a new welfare program in November. The ideia behind it is to provide with more “TOOLS” for the recipient to get out of it. 2/13: Brazil's #GDP growth and the #inflation in 2021, at this moment, is predicted to be 5.3 and 5.9 percent respectively. In May, the GDP was predicted at 3.5%. 3/13: The gov't is testing the delivery of educational material to some cities by ships and boats, 430 tons, and is expecting to save costs and reach places faster. 4/13: #Highschool in Brazil should start changing in 2022 by offering four sets of curriculums for the student to choose from depending on the area of interest. This will be implemented in three 1-per-year phases in 4 out of 176 thousand public schools. 5/13: President #Bolsonaro's next motorcycle ride should be in the State of #Amazon. 6/13: We don't know if #China took the opportunity of the attention the protests in #Cuba brought to their Marxism-based economic/political system, but their Embassy in Brazil tweeted, “THE #SOCIALISM WITH CHINESE FEATURES PROVED TO BE A SUCCESS, FITTING CHINA'S NATIONAL INSTERESTS AND THE TIMES. OCCIDENTAL POLLS SHOW THAT 90% PLUS [OF THE POPULATION] HAVE SHOWN TO BE PLEASED AND SUPPORT THE #CCP AND THE GOVERNMENT, THE HIGHEST RATE IN THE WORLD.” 7/13: General #BragaNeto was summoned to give explanations to the #Congress for a note released by the #ArmedForces criticizing the #COVIDProbe (#CPIdaCOVID) committee for them wanting to hear him without any formal accusation, stating, “THE ARMED FORCES WON'T ACCEPT AN UNGROUNDED ATTACK ON INSTITUTIONS THAT DEFEND DEMOCRACY AND THE FREEDOM OF THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE.” 8/13: #Congress approved nearly tripling the public funding for the political parties' general expenses and for their campaigns in 2022. The proposed nearly-6-billion-real funding bill now heads to the #Senate. 9/13: The minimum salary in #Brazil should increase from the current 1,100 to 1,147 reals in 2022. Since the beginning of the #Bolsonaro administration until this year, it rose 10.2%. In the previous 3 years it rose 13.4%. 10/13: The #PTParty of #SantaCatarina appealed to the #SupremeCourt (#STF) for the end of a state ban on the use of made-up neutral language. 11/13: #Congress was going to vote on the bill for the addition of paper trail to the voting machines Friday, but due to lack of quorum, only 2 to go, it was postponed for August 5th. 12/13: Last Sunday, President #Bolsonaro attended another motorcycle rally, this time in #PortoAlegre. The attendance was very good. 13/13: President #Bolsonaro confirmed #AndreMendonca as his choice to take #MarcoAurelio's seat as #SupremeCourt justice. Aurelio left his position last Monday after 31 years of service. Mendonça has now to speak in the #Senate.
  • Congresswoman #PaulaBelmonte, DF, saw her bill for lowering congresspeople's salary benefits be approved in #Congress. It's now heading to the #Senate. A bill like this to pass is unthinkable, but it's explained due to its limited and timid effects, since it will only limit the benefits of what is called 'super salaries,' affecting a tiny percentage of government officials, but this is positive step in the right direction nevertheless.
  • Marcos Roberto Correia da Silva (we will refer to him as #MRCS) is a hacker and worked with the hacking group #VandaTheGod. He and his team, composed of 6 others, some from other countries, were able to invade several government websites and break into systems. According to him, it was all with the purpose of protesting, never to steal data. Among the websites they hacked were the #ArmedForces', the #MinasGerais Police Force's, the #Senate's, and the SupremeJusticeCourt's (#STJ's, not to be confused with the #SupremeCourt [#STF]). He was in jail for some time and, as soon as he left jail in August last year, he reengaged in hacking, and since 2020 was city elections, he and his team took the chance to hack the #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#STE) website in order to get access to the voting system, and they did, resulting in the vote count to be interrupted for a couple of hours. He was identified by an American-Israeli technology company called #CheckPoint, arrested and is currently in jail. Congressman #FilipeBarros, who is the reviewer of the paper trail bill, interviewed him. MRCS stated that many of the hackers that he had contact with are Iranians, and also that the vulnerabilities on government websites are big and the consequent invasion into systems is not hard. He said that changing the final result of an electronic voting electoral system like ours is not easy, but it is relatively easy to change the vote that's being transmitted from the voting stations to the #TSE, since the system has to go online at some point to collect the data from across the country.
  • Now and then, some famous Brazilian artists engage in a campaign against the #Bolsonaro administration. The reason is the change the Ministry of Culture is bringing to the #RouanetLaw, a law that was created with the purpose of subsidizing small artists. Over time, the left started to use this law to fund big artists, artists that don't need its money to make money, since they are good and famous enough to attract a good audience. It seems to have paid off. Despite the gov't wanting to give the money to those who have little to no means, some artists engaged in another round of criticism, even recording a song that was mostly disliked. Absolutely nothing he's doing is good for them, corruption is as big as before he was elected, and he is committing a genocide. #PauloCoelho, one of these it-doesn't-matter-what never-Bolsonaro artists, quite famous worldwide and whose wealth allowed him to live away from Brazil since 2007, tweeted in 2016, “IF IT WERE UP TO ME, THEY COULD END THE ROUANET LAW, BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WEALTHY HELPING OUT THE WEALTHY. WE NEED A DIFFERENT LAW. THE CURRENT ONE IS FULL OF LOOPHOLES.” The law prohibits the funding of political projects, but this restriction was never followed to the letter. Coelho himself applied to get funding for a jazz festival in #Bahia recently, but the first time the name of the project was announced it read “FOR DEMOCRACY ANTIFASCIST FESTIVAL,” name that was soon dropped, but the nature of the project had already exposed. Coelho was denied the subsidy. Coelho didn't make his material fortune with the help of this law, his works brings him money from all around the world, and he's been living away from Brazil for quite a while, meaning he could look at and critize his home country without any pressure, so much so that he wrote that tweet. What could possibly have made him give up his freedom to speak honestly and engage in the it-doesn't-matter-what never-Bolsonaro campaigning? Some people believe him not receiving money from the Rouanet Law for this festival is not the only reason.
  • Minister of Health #MarceloQueiroga made a statement that displeased rightwingers. “#FAKENEWS HAVE BEEN USED IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY TO MANIPULATE, TO MISINFORM, AND TO HARM. REGARDING THE #VACCINE, IT'S EVEN MORE SERIOUS, BECAUSE FAKE NEWS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE'S DISBELIEF IN IT AND THUS MAKING THEM NOT WANTING TO GET THE SHOT AND NOT LETTING THEIR CHILDREN GET IT.” This is not the first time Queiroga implies he wishes that 100% of the population be vaccinated, but this latest statement is more troubling because, although it's the left that usually spreads fake news about the vaccine, he seems to be criticizing the right.
  • #SaoPaulo governor, João #Doria, announced that he got #COVID for the second time, the first time was before he got the two doses of the Chinese #CoronaVac. He's working from home and claims he's not bad because of the vaccine. His doctor is #DrUip, who tried to hide from the public he (the doctor) took #hydroxychloroquine in 2020, but he eventually admitted to taking it. Dória has always been against it. Everything involving Dória's claims sounds suspicious to a lot of people. Many doubt he's never taken that medicine, many doubt he's ever got the CoronaVac shots. Many doubt he's ever telling the truth or all of it when it comes to this subject. #pandemic
  • After the #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#STE) started trying to contact people in charge of #Telegram to demand them to disclose users' information and messages and also to demand that they limit the number of contacts a group can have and the number of people a message can by share with, the #COVIDProbe (#CPIdaCOVID) is also trying to reach out to them. The real reason behind these attempts is to limit its operation in #Brazil, given it was the large sharing of information on WhatsApp that greatly helped Bolsonaro get elected. Telegram allows a group to have 200 thousand members, WhatsApp only 256 members. WhatsApp's unsafe environment for rightwingers makes them vulnerable to being quickly censored and informed on because of a Supreme Court order.
  • The #SupremeElectoralCourt (#TSE) will judge a request for the nullification of the election of President #Bolsonaro due to irregularities during his campaign. The argument is that the Bolsonaro campaign team was financing mass sharing of messages on #WhatsApp. An investigation on this has been ongoing since his election, but nothing has been proven, but on the contrary, the opposition was doing this. The name of the investigation is #InqueritodasFakeNews (#FakeNewsProbe). The #SupremeCourt (#STF) is responsible for the investigation and nobody (including lawyers/attorneys) has had access to the content of the process in order to provide the accused parties with a proper defense. Regardless, TSE's still seeking to give #Congress grounds for an #impeachment process based on this messy investigation by the STF.
  • President #Bolsonaro went to hospital on the 14th after he didn't feel well in the morning. He was first taken to a military hospital. Bolsonaro was presenting a persistent hiccup in his videos. His doctor said this was due to complications from the surgeries he went through because of his stabbing, resulting in some obstruction in his intestine due to kinking. He needed further exams and maybe undergo another surgery. Because of this he had to go to #SaoPaulo where he was taken to the ICU, and he was breathing and being fed through tubes as a precautionary measure to avoid liquid from accumulating in his stomach and go up and get into his lungs. His intesting got unobstructed without the need for surgery and the tubes were removed on Friday. Ex-congressman and now president of the #PTBParty (and notoriously loved and hated by the right), #RobertoJefferson, tweeted, “LEAD. HIGH DOSES OF LEAD IN PRESIDENT #BOLSONARO'S BLOOD. HOW DID IT GET THERE? FOOD. THE SCOUNDRELS TRIED [TO KILL HIM] AGAIN. [...]” Bolsonaro's doctor hasn't confirmed the information and nobody knows yet where Jefferson got this from. It's worth mentioning that Bolsonaro said he was going to show proof this last Thursday during his weekly live that #electionfraud exists, but didn't do it due to this health problem, fueling the belief of food poisoning with the purpose of stopping him from doing so. On Friday Bolsonaro was better and taking walks in the hospital. Yesterday, he was eating without the tube―soft food. Today he was released from hospital.
  • President #Bolsonaro's possibility of running in 2022 as a #PatriotaParty member seems to be over. The party was divided and its president was reluctant to let Bolsonaro take control of it, which is one thing he demands. Now there are the #PTBParty, the #PPParty, the PLParty, and the #MulherBrasileiraParty ('#BrazilianWomanParty') left for him to reach a deal.
  • The rules for the bid for the #5Gtechnology will be voted in mid August. When questioned about Chinese companies participating in the bidding process due to security concerns, Minister of Communications #FabioFaria said it's telecommunication companies that will bid, not equipment makers, meaning they will be the ones to answer for using equipment that fails to comply with privacy regulations. This means #Huawei and/or other Chinese companies will very likely operate in Brazil in large scale. He said that the 5G network used by essential governmental agencies and institutions will be isolated from other 5G networks. Brazil is part of a group of countries who signed an agreement with the US in order to better protect their gov't'l communication network systems from #China. The 5G technology is expected to be working in some cities by the end of this year and in all 27 states by July next year.
  • President #Bolsonaro was supposed to have had a meeting with the presidents of the other powers, #SupremeCourt (#STF), #Congress, and #Senate, to discuss power interference so that no one crosses the constitutional line. The STF has been criticizing the way Bolsonaro addresses them, and he criticizes the STF's explicit political activism. The presidents of Congress and Senate avoid explicitly taking sides, but since Bolsonaro's criticism is about words and the STF's activism is about rulings, their “neutrality” only favors the STF.
  • A lawyer called #PauloFaria requested the General Attorney's Office that #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #AlexandredeMoraes be arrested for in flagrante offense under the charge of ongoing psychological torture against Congressman #DanielSilveira since February, the only kind of offense a Justice-Minister can be immediatly arrested by a different power. If you are not familiar with his case, Silveira was arrested by Justice De Moraes after he posted a video harshly criticizing the #SupremeCourt. When Silveira was arrested, his bail was set to 100,000 reals. He didn't have the money, but supporters and friends quickly raised his bail. When De Moraes learned the money had been raised, he ordered the bank account where the money was to be closed and his bail could no longer be paid. Silveira has never been judged, which means the closed account, the impossibility of his bail being paid, and his continued arrest are being considered a (psychological) torture provoked by Justice De Moraes. For as long as Silveira is not judged, the bail is supposed to be acceptable, but De Moraes changed the accusation to non-bailable based on the argument that his video being online (it doesn't matter where) is proof of an ongoing in flagrante and thus he can't be freed. De Moraes ordered that the president of the Association of Brazilian Lawyers/Attorneys opened a disciplinary process against Faria. Another crime De Moraes allegedly committed was putting Silveira in prison right from the start, which could not have happened until #Congress had voted for punishing him. Another alleged crime was the fact that De Moraes could not have him arrested without a warranty from the Public Prosecutors' Office.
  • Demonstrators gathered in #Brasilia last Friday in support for lifting the ban on possessing and carrying guns. The event was called 'Second #ProGunsforFreedomAct' ('Segundo #AtoProArmaspelaLiberdade'). Among other politicians, Congressman #EduardoBolsonaro was present. The attendance was good.
  • “THE FRAUD IS AT THE #TSE (#ElectoralSupremeCourt), JUST SO IT'S CLEAR. THIS HAPPENED IN 2014. WE [CONGRESSPEOPLE] WERE ALLOWED TO SEE THE STATISTICS MINUTE BY MINUTE. OBVIOUSLY, YOU [THE PEOPLE] DIDN'T HAVE ACCESS [TO THAT]. DURING THE SECOND ROUND, #AECIONEVES WAS UP THERE AND #DILMAROUSSEFF [WAS] WAY BEHIND. AS TIME PASSED, THEY STARTED TO GET CLOSER UNTIL THEY HIT EACH OTHER. [AT THIS MOMENT, WHEN THEY HIT EACH OTHER] WE HAD 271 MINUTE-BY-MINUTE OF UPDATES SAYING 'DILMA AHEAD,' 'AÉCIO AHEAD,' 'DILMA AHEAD,' 'AECIO AHEAD.' IT WAS LIKE FLIPPING A COIN AND GETTING HEADS THIS TIME AND TAILS THE NEXT ONE EVERY SINGLE TIME FOR 271 FLIPPINGS. [...] THE POLLING COMPANIES, ALSO FRAUDULENT, [IS] SHOWING THE NINE FINGERS [#LULA] AHEAD [IN A SIMULATION]. WHAT FOR? SO THAT HE CAN BE CONFIRMED BY A FRAUD BY THE TSE. [...] IF WE WANT ONE MORE WAY TO GIVE TRANSPARENCY [BY ADOPTING THE PAPER TRAIL], WHY IS JUSTICE #LUISBARROSO AGAINST IT? A #SUPREMECOURT JUSTICE; THIS IS A SHAME! THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE DEFENDS THE #ABORTION, THE FACT THAT HE WANTS TO LOWER THE AGE OF SEX CONSENT TO 12 YEARS OLD. A MAN WHO WANTS TO DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS, WHO DEFENDED THE ITALIAN MURDERER #CESAREBATTISTI. THIS IS THE MAN WHO'S IN CHARGE OF THE ELECTIONS. A GUY LIKE HIM SHOULD BE AT HOME OR SOMEWHERE ELSE. IF [FULLY] ELECTRONIC ELECTIONS ARE SAFE, WHY DON'T #JAPAN OR #SOUTHKOREA DO THE SAME? WHY DOESN'T THE WORLD DO THE SAME? IS IT BECAUSE WE ARE THE BEST IN TECHNOLOGY? IT'S OBVIOUS THEY WANT TO PUT BACK IN POWER THE SAME CRIME GANG OF ALWAYS.” President #Bolsonaro speaking to supporters on his daily stop between home and the #PlanaltoPalace last Monday.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • #RibeiraoPreto's justice ruled that the statewide #lockdown imposed by #SaoPaulo Governor #JoaoDoria is unconstitutional, saying that it can only be imposed by the president and with the approval of the #Congress. Although lockdowns and curfews imposed by mayors' and governors' decrees are unequivocally unconstitutional, and this fact has been exhaustively exposed on the media ever since the first ones were put in place, Ribeirão Preto is the first Brazilian city to effectively do something to uphold the Constitution. This is a remarkable event, especially considering it's a city . #covid #pandemic
  • #Criciuma's Mayor #ClesioSalvaro, State of #SantaCatarina, signed a #lockdown bill that, in his words, “HAS A CATCH: [HOMEY WITH NO MONEY; this was us trying to rhyme. He actually said, lockdown without income]. YOU DON'T WANT TO COME TO WORK? FINE. YOU WANT TO PROTECT YOURSELF? GREAT. YOU'LL BE ALLOWED TO STAY AT HOME, BUT YOU WON'T RECEIVE YOUR SALARY.” He also said, “EVERY JOB IS ESSENTIAL.” #pandemic #covid
  • A study done with more than 500 people in #Amazon shows that patients in serious conditions that took
  • The news show #OsPingosNosIs often brings on air mayors of cities that haven't gone on a #lockdown and are doing well, with low #COVID cases, and mayors from cities that are being devastated economically, and last night they brought on air #AparecidadoNorte's Mayor #LuizCarlosdeSiqueira, city located in the State of #SaoPaulo. Aparecida means shown up, or Shown Up in the North, referring to when fishermen found an statue of the Virgin Mary. The interview was heartbreaking. The city is highly dependent on tourism. People from across the country, especially Catholics, go there to pay their homage to the Virgin Mary and to shop related products. The city has a high revenue on the weekends, but due to the imposed lockdown by Governor #JoaoDoria, the city lost most of its revenue and the unemployment rate is 70%. He has talked to people that are contemplating suicide and desperate business owners looking for alternative solutions. The mayor can't hold his tears and asks for food donations. Aparecida has a population of about 36 thousand. #pandemic

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