The beginning of the end. Many describe it like this, what is happening in these hours a Jair Bolsonaro. The president of Brazil is now officially accused of crimes against humanity after the green light of the Senate commission of the Latin American country. The report will now be forwarded not only to Brazilian justice but also to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, with the possible sensational indictment that is usually reserved for dictators and state killings. And at the same time he is also banned from social media accused of being a denier of the pandemic by Covid-19, following in the footsteps of his friend Donald Trump. All less than a year before the presidential elections scheduled for October 2022.
But if Trump has at least escaped impeachment twice, with the possibility of running for the White House again in 2024, Bolsonaro may not have the same luck. As often happens, Brazil seems ready to decide its political future with the actions of the judiciary. It had already happened in the past with the arrest of Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, who is absurdly now the big favorite for the vote that could grant him a sensational return, and his heir Dilma Rousseff. Now Bolsonaro seems to be destined for the same fate.
The final report of the Senate commission, the fruit of six months of investigation and consisting of 1290 pages, accuses Bolsonaro of crimes against humanity and eight other serious crimes. These are violations of health measures, medical quackery, incitement to commit a crime, epidemic with a fatal outcome, falsification of documents, illegal use of public money, abuse of power and an attack on the dignity of the mandate. Accusations also against 78 other people and two companies, including four ministers and three children of the president: senator Flavio, deputy Eduardo and the councilor of Rio de Janeiro, Carlos. Also involved are the former Minister of Health, General Eduardo Pazuello, and the former Foreign Minister, Ernesto AraĆ¹jo, as well as a dozen parliamentarians, public officials, government consultants and far-right doctors who are members of an informal group close to the president.
His main fault would be that of having minimized the pandemic, not having taken steps to protect the health of Brazilians and indeed having spread theories and hypotheses not supported by facts, causing serious consequences on the progress of the health emergency. Among the elements charged, the report includes speeches by the president in public, statements against vaccines and in favor of the use of chloroquine, data relating to delays in the acquisition of vaccines, government opposition to the adoption of protective health measures. At this moment, on the other hand, Brazil has over 606,000 official deaths from Covid, the third highest number in the world after the United States and India. The commission decided to give the official green light to the indictment with seven votes in favor and four against. Bolsonaro’s management turned out to be little engaged ” in the effective fight against the pandemic and therefore in the protection of the life and physical integrity of Brazilians … In normal times, it would be just an example of despicable pseudoscientific quackery. However, in the midst of a global pandemic, the president contributed to a monstrous tragedy, ” the report reads.
That’s not all. The commission also asks for Bolsonaro to be banned from social networks, a bit like what happened with Trump, but in that case on the autonomous action of the digital giants themselves. “It is important to remember that the dissemination of false news and attacks on institutions are not only personal opinions of Bolsonaro in assuming the presidency of the Republic he assumed the responsibilities of his office and therefore his statements take the form of official decisions that strongly influence the population, “the report reads. Among other things, YouTube has just removed a video recorded live by Bolsonaro last Thursday, during which the president read an alleged news that those vaccinated against Covid are developing AIDS. The content of the movie was also withdrawn from Instagram and Facebook.
Perhaps it was not needed, but the legal action is intended to help the chances of return to power of Lula, former president of Brazil between 2003 and 2010. In the latest polls, Lula would have 48% of voting intentions ahead of the 2022 elections, while Bolsonaro would have stopped at 23%. This is before the official indictment which could make matters even worse, with Lula even thinking of exceeding 50% and thus being elected in the first round of the elections scheduled for next October.
But beware of Bolsonaro, who like Trump may not agree to leave power in a peaceful way. In the meantime, however, while the president’s star seems to set in the motherland, some reason for joy arrives from Italy, with the municipality of Anguillara Veneta which granted him honorary citizenship to celebrate the Venetian emigration to Brazil. Episode that sparked controversy. The regional councilors of the Democratic Party complained, speaking of the “exploitation” of Venetian emigration to “justify a totally wrong decision”.
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