Jair Bolsonaro fined for not wearing a mask

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been fined for appearing without a mask in front of an audience in Maranhao state, as confirmed Flavio Dino, governor of this state, who announced the decision of the health authorities.

“We are going through a particularly difficult phase of the pandemic. The health team worked hard. And today he has decided to issue a notice of infringement against the President of the Republic, for promoting agglomerations in Maranhão without any type of health care.. The law is for everyone, ”Communist Party Governor Flavio Dino said on his Twitter account.

“The President of the Republic must comply with federal and state laws. A regulation is in force which prohibits events of more than 100 people and imposes the use of a mask. The president can exercise his right of defense. The amount of the fine is provided for by federal law, ”added Dino.

Brazilian law provides for fines of between two thousand and 1.5 million reais (between 370 and 280 thousand dollars), although the amount will be fixed when the executive presents its defense within 15 days. The governor of Maranhao also recalled the difficult situation facing the country, where the pandemic has already killed more than 446,000 people. In another tweet, Dino mourned the death of Mauricio Paixão due to complications from covid-19. Paixão was a human rights defender from Maranhao and a member of the black movement.

Bolsonaro participated in a delivery of land titles on Friday rural in Açailandia, 500 km from Sao Luis, capital of Maranhao. During the event, the president again attacked social distancing measures imposed by local governors and mayors. He insisted that the measures had no proven scientific effectiveness and were being applied to “oppress the people”.

The president later posted a video on his Twitter account in which he is seen without a mask surrounded by a crowd of people. Maranhao is one of the South American giant’s poorest states. Last Thursday, the first cases of the Indian variant of covid-19 were detected in that state. Those infected are six crew members of a Hong Kong-flagged freighter.

In addition to criticizing the measures implemented by governors in the fight against the covid pandemic, the president also called Governor Flavio Dino a “dictator” for taking more stringent measures to stop the rise in infections. Bolsonaro also confused South Korea with North Korea. “There in South Korea [sic] It is a dictatorship and the dictator is not a chubby? Venezuela is also a dictatorship, and isn’t the dictator chubby? And who is the chubby dictator here in Maranhao? “, He said.

“They must have an aversion to communism,” insisted Bolsonaro, who made no allusion to the critical health situation facing the country with more than 446,000 dead and on the verge of a new wave of pandemic, according to reports. specialists. .