Lula’s reappearance forced Bolsonaro to change …

From Rio de Janeiro

In a time as strange as this, time is certainly not homogeneous. It’s as if nothing had happened politically in Brazil for a year – even with the pandemic – so that it all suddenly happened within a week. Lula goes from condemnation to the recovery of his legal rights and, with his intervention, emerges as the great figure of Brazilian politics. Even if you don’t officially apply, He is becoming a consensus favorite to be elected president of Brazil in 2022.

The replacement of the Minister of Health is already the work of Lula’s political reappearance. Bolsonaro’s wear and tear has been drawn on the horizon, along with the dire attitude he has in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. A newspaper poll Sao Paulo state from the week before, he’s already given Lula 50% support, with the lowest rejection level among all pre-candidates. And in Bolsonaro 38%, with a high level of rejection.

This poll was already enough for Bolsonaro to start changing his stance, pretending to search for vaccines, in tune with the governors, who had been doing it for a long time. But he retained the interviewed Minister of Health, an army officer, supposedly specialized in logistics, Eduardo Pazuello, who had been appointed to this post as part of the government’s militarization movement.. A movement that has displaced civilian public health personnel, who have great experience and great prestige in Brazil.

The administration of Pazuello has been a disaster from the start. He did not even respond in his specialty, because syringes, needles and, of course, vaccines are lacking.. He filled the ministry with the military, displacing all public health personnel. When he arrived there were around 20,000 dead in Brazil, when he leaves that figure is already close to 300,000 dead. While, almost two months after starting the vaccination, less than 5% of Brazilians have received vaccines from the two that are in the country. The average daily death rate from the pandemic has been over 2,000 for more than a month.

Lula’s reappearance was the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading Bolsonaro to having to remove Pazuello. The president met with a renowned doctor, a cardiologist, with whom he could not come to an agreement because she openly opposes his policies. Ludhmila hajjar He left the meeting and gave lengthy interviews to all media, with strong criticism of the government.

Bolsonaro then called in another doctor who had collaborated with the government and had been introduced by Flavio Bolsonaro, one of the president’s sons. Marcelo Queiroga accepted the appointment, immediately clarifying that the policy will not be his, but that of the government. But we do not know what he will do with the large number of soldiers in the ministry. The fall of Pazuello is a great defeat for the military.

Centrao itself – the bloc of parties that back the government – says it has the last chance to contain the current pandemic situation. They did not receive the new minister in a very positive way because they preferred the doctor who did not accept the government’s invitation and who would represent scientific criteria, which Bolsonaro rejects.

All this at a time when Brazil is going through the worst moment of the pandemic and without any horizon of improvement. I received the first dose of the vaccine last week, along with Lula and Chico Buarque, because of our age, we are of the same generation. But the vaccinations have since ended.

Despite the declarations of the outgoing minister, the health system collapsed across the country. Most major cities have restrictions on trade and movement of people.

It is no longer possible to expand hospital beds, as there are no more medical staff to care for them. 500 doctors and 3,000 nurses have already died while working in hospitals. The queues for admission, in each province, are thousands of people. Hundreds of people are dying in queues, waiting for places in hospitals. The medical staff already have to make painful decisions about who to admit, because there is no room for everyone.

It is in this context that Lula reappears as the great hope of Brazilians.. Even grassroots government support parties sympathize with Lula’s words. Even a traditional right-wing economist during the days of the military dictatorship, like Delfim Neto, said he would vote for Lula.

Because there is already a general awareness that, with Bolsonaro and without democracy, Brazil will not overcome the worst crisis in its history. A crisis in the parties that support Bolsonaro may reopen the possibility of his impeachment. Now with a concrete perspective on the political game: Lula.