RIO DE JANEIRO – Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday for a second day to demand the removal of President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under fire for his government’s response to the rampant cases of COVID-19, which has caused more than 216,000 deaths to the country.
Horned cars marched through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and a dozen or so other cities as other protesters marched on foot, some shouting, “Get out of Bolsonaro!”
Sunday’s protests were called by conservative groups that had supported the president, while Saturday’s had come from the left.
“When Bolsonaro arrived, we voted for him for his proposals that we found interesting, but the current situation of the pandemic is terrible,” said Meg Fernandes, a 66-year-old engineer who joined a protest in Rio on Sunday. .
She said she was especially alarmed by the situation in the northern city of Manaus, where there is a waiting list for hospital intensive care beds and a lack of medical oxygen.
“I had already been disappointed last year, but now with the situation in Manaus, I think (this government) needs to stop,” he said. “Goodbye, Bolsonaro.”
Thomaz Favaro, a political analyst at consulting firm Control Risks, said Bolsonaro is at low risk of dismissal, although that could change if his allies lose a vote on Feb. 2 over the lower house leadership.
“Bolsonaro’s base in Congress is unstable, but it’s robust,” he said, though he could be affected by the president’s popularity.
But he said the removal would be “a nuclear option that changes the country’s political trajectory.”
Bolsonaro, who is halfway through his four-year term, has faced renewed criticism in recent weeks for both the Manaus crisis and delays in launching Brazil’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19 . The president has long resisted blocking measures against the new coronavirus, arguing that the economic damage would be worse than the disease.
Brazil’s attorney general, Augusto Aras, on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to open an investigation into Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello over the crisis in Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas. Aras cited a document that said the ministry was aware of a possible lack of oxygen on Jan. 8, but did not begin sending additional supplies until Jan. 12.
A recently published Datafolha poll from January 20 to 21 showed that support for Bolsonaro fell to 37% from 31% in December, the biggest drop in a month since the start of his administration. The number that rated its poor performance went from 40% to 40%. The margin of error was two percentage points.
“We demand the removal of Bolsonaro because it is not just a crime he committed. The way he dealt with the pandemic: he spent money on ineffective remedies instead of investing in the vaccine and oxygen, ”said Tiago Sussekind, a 21-year-old law student who joined Saturday’s protest in Rio.
The protests over the weekend come at a time of growing debate over possible dismissals, although most analysts believe it is unlikely to happen.
Carlos Ayres Britto, former president of the Brazilian Supreme Court ??? Court, former Finance Minister Ciro Gomes and even singer Chico Buarque have called for the president to face an impeachment over his response to the pandemic. A leading newspaper, O Estado de Sao Paulo, also published an editorial on Friday calling for his dismissal.