The 15 chapters of Bolsonaro’s arm wrestling in the covid-19 exams

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AFP

The pressure for the presentation of the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, of his covid-19 exams became the objective of an arms fight that had its most recent chapter this Friday (8/5).

The President of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), João Otávio Noronha, suspended a decision that required President Jair Bolsonaro to submit examination reports to detect if he was infected with the coronavirus.

Noronha accepted the appeal of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), in which the government argued that the results of the examinations should preserve the private sphere of the president and that this information does not refer to the exercise of the function.

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The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, which sued the courts to have access to the covid-19 tests carried out by the president, reported that it will appeal to the STJ itself and to the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

In addition to this case, there is also a requirement from the Chamber of Deputies for the Planalto Palace to disclose information about the two tests that Bolsonaro was subjected to after having had contact with at least 25 infected people.

Clarifying the issue is considered essential for a number of reasons, ranging from the possible health risk imposed by the president on the people around him and a possible crime of liability, according to experts, which could ultimately lead to the opening of the process. impeachment in the house.

In the chronology below, BBC News Brazil brought together 15 relevant moments, over almost two months, in which the topic gained importance:

1. The Secretary of Communication, Fábio Wajngarten, has coronavirus.

On March 12, the government reported that the Secretary of Social Communication of the Presidency, Fábio Wajngarten, had tested positive for coronavirus and was quarantined at his home.

The positive test came after Wanjgarten returned from a trip with Bolsonaro and an entourage to Florida, in the United States. In addition to contacting the Brazilian president, Wajngarten took a photo with the US president, Donald Trump, and the deputy Mike Pence.

2. Fox News says Bolsonaro tested positive; Bolsonaro says he tested negative

The US-based Fox News radio station, right-aligned in the United States, released information that Bolsonaro’s test for the coronavirus had been positive. Hours later, on March 13, Bolsonaro said his coronavirus test was negative.

On a social network, Fox News chief correspondent at the White House, John Roberts, wrote that “Bolsonaro’s son told Fox News that his father’s preliminary coronavirus test was positive. They are awaiting the results of a second proof”.

Eduardo Bolsonaro published the following message: “I have never spoken to anyone in the press that the evidence from President @jairbolsonaro has been positive, never. This information never reached me. The only information I have is that PR @jairbolsonaro, Min. @Gen_heleno and I got a negative result for coronavirus. “

3. The White House says Trump tested negative

After revealing positive results to members of the Brazilian delegation with whom he had met days earlier, Trump was under pressure. On March 14, the White House reported that Trump had a negative test on his coronavirus test.

4. Bolsonaro participates in the act and greets supporters

On Sunday (03/15) of the same week, Bolsonaro did not comply with the monitoring recommendation due to the new coronavirus. Before undergoing a second test, he left the Alvorada Palace and participated in a pro-government rally, in which he shook hands with supporters and manipulated the cell phones of some of them to take selfies.

5. Bolsonaro says that the second test was negative

Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter on March 17 that the second test he was subjected to was negative. “I inform you that my second test for COVID-19 was NEGATIVE. Good evening everyone.”

6. More than 20 members of Bolsonaro’s entourage with coronavirus

A total of 22 members of Bolsonaro’s entourage on the trip to the United States tested positive for the coronavirus until March 20. Among them, the ministers Augusto Heleno (Office of Institutional Security) and Bento Albuquerque (Mines and Energy), the president of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Robson Braga de Andrade and Nestor Forster, in charge of business in Brazil. United States.

At the time, Bolsonaro said: “I’m fine, I did two tests, maybe I will do one more, maybe because I’m a person who has contact with many people. Maybe I will receive medical advice.”

In late March, the Hospital das Forças Armadas (HFA) submitted a list of those infected with the coronavirus to the Federal District Government, but omitted two names that received a positive result.

7. Bolsonaro’s driver enters the hospital with respiratory problems

On March 23, Correio Braziliense published that one of President Jair Bolsonaro’s drivers entered a hospital in Brasilia presenting respiratory problems, which could indicate contamination by the new coronavirus.

Days before, another Presidential driver had been tested to see if he had the coronavirus. The first test was positive, but the test was negative.

8. Bolsonaro says that his word is worth more than a piece of paper.

Bolsonaro defended himself saying that people need to trust his word that he was not infected.

“Have you ever thought about what dish you would prepare for the press if I had infected you? I’m not. It’s my word. My word is worth more than a piece of paper,” he told reporters on March 26.

The Vice President of the Republic, Hamilton Mourão, adopted a similar line. “I think you have to take the president’s word for it. It would be the worst of all worlds for the president to come and declare that it came back negative and then turned out to be positive.”

9. Bolsonaro circulates in Brasilia, cleans his nose and shakes hands with an old woman

On more than one occasion, Bolsonaro circulated through stores in Brasilia and in administrative regions of the Federal District. On one of these tours, in April, the President shook hands with an elderly woman moments after she rubbed her nose.

10. The camera requests information about the two Bolsonaro exams

The Chamber of Deputies gave Planalto 30 days to disclose information about the two exams that the representative underwent after having had contact with at least 25 infected people. The letter was sent to the Executive on April 16, according to the Chamber.

If the Bolsonaro government does not respond to the request of the Board of Directors of the Chamber “without adequate justification” or does not transmit false information, article 50 of the Constitution establishes that the authority would commit a crime of responsibility. This, in the final analysis, could lead to the opening of the impeachment process in the Chamber.

11. Bolsonaro draws the world’s attention by participating in an act in favor of “military intervention” and the cough

Bolsonaro spoke on April 19 in an act calling for “military intervention” and the closure of Congress and the Supreme Court in front of the army headquarters in Brasilia.

In addition to the content of the speech (in which he said “We don’t want to negotiate anything”), Bolsonaro’s cough was notable.

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12. Estadão activates justice to see the results of the Bolsonaro exam

The newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo filed a lawsuit, in which it states “restricting the population’s access to information of public interest”, to have access to the results of Bolsonaro’s exams. The newspaper said it brought justice after questioning the Planalto Palace and the president himself about the disclosure of the test results.

On April 27, the Federal Court ruled in favor of the newspaper’s request and gave the Union a period of 48 hours to provide the reports of all the examinations carried out by the President of the Republic to identify the infection or not by the new one. coronavirus.

The following day, Bolsonaro commented on the matter. “For my part, it is okay to show (the result), but I want to show that I have the right not to show it. Why do you want to know if I am a virgin or not? I will have to present a virginity test for you. Is it positive or negative What do you think there? “said the president at the door of the Alvorada Palace.

13. Bolsonaro says that “maybe” he has a virus

In the middle of the fight for the examination report, Bolsonaro considered, in an interview with the Guaíba radio, the possibility of having contracted the virus.

“I may have detected this virus in the past. Maybe, maybe. And I didn’t even feel it,” he said.

14. The government does not submit an examination report, only a medical report

The Office of the Attorney General (AGU) did not release the President’s exam report, only a medical report from the Presidency’s health coordination indicating that Bolsonaro had a negative result in two tests for the detection of covid-19. The report was signed by two doctors working for the Presidency, an orthopedist and a urologist.

Federal judge Ana Lúcia Petri Betto considered that the medical report did not “completely” comply with the court order that determined the delivery of the reports. Then he gave another 48 hours to deliver the reports.

The government appealed to the Federal Regional Court of the Third Region (TRF-3), based in São Paulo, to try to revoke the order. Judge André Nabarrete decided to maintain Bolsonaro’s obligation to deliver “the reports of all the exams.”

It was then that AGU turned to the STJ.

15. STJ President frees Bolsonaro to deliver reports

The President of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), João Otávio Noronha, suspended a decision that required President Jair Bolsonaro to submit examination reports to detect if he was infected with the coronavirus.

Noronha accepted the appeal of the Office of the Attorney General (AGU), in which the government argued that the results of the examinations should preserve the private sphere of the president and that this information does not refer to the exercise of the function.

The State of S. Paulo informed that it will appeal to the STJ and the STF.

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