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Credit, Marcos Corrêa / PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC
President Jair Bolsonaro spoke at the United Nations National Assembly this Tuesday morning (9/22)
Although he adopted a less aggressive tone than in 2019, Bolsonaro did not escape controversy in his inaugural speech to the United Nations National Assembly on Tuesday morning (9/22).
As BBC News Brazil said, Bolsonaro focused on defending his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and actions in favor of the environment. And he accused the press, the governors, the protectionism of other nations and the “shady interests” of international organizations for the criticism that his administration has received both for the high number of victims -137 thousand deaths from covid-19 in the country – as for the burning. in the Amazon and Pantanal regions.
Bolsonaro also reaffirmed Brazil’s commitment to democratic order, the freedom of peoples, and the search for peace and international cooperation. And he recalled that Brazil is committed to deepening its mission as a food producer, which today already accredits it to feed one sixth of the world’s population.
Brazil has been responsible for the inaugural speech of the UN General Assembly for decades. This year, however, due to the coronavirus epidemic, the UN plenary was empty and all leaders submitted their speeches online. Bolsonaro’s recorded speech was presented in plenary by the Brazilian ambassador to the UN Ronaldo Costa and the broadcast gasped at the beginning, forcing the organization of the event to restart the Brazilian president’s speech.
See point by point which were the controversies of the speech:
The press, justice and governors are to blame
Credit, reproduction
In a speech, Bolsonaro said that “the slogan ‘stay home’ and ‘the economy we’ll see later’ almost brought social chaos.”
Speaking of the coronavirus pandemic, Bolsonaro said he “wanted to mourn every death,” in an expression of solidarity for which he was repeatedly sued in Brazil.
In the sequence, however, he exempted the federal government from further responsibility for the spread of the pandemic in the country. “From the beginning I warned, in my country, that we had two problems to solve: the virus and unemployment, and that both should be treated simultaneously and with the same responsibility,” he said.
On the one hand, he affirmed that “a part of the Brazilian press politicized the virus, sowing panic among the population.” And that “under the slogan ‘stay home’ and ‘the economy that we will see later’, it almost brought social chaos to the country.”
Bolsonaro also affirmed that his performance was limited “by judicial decision,” in reference to the decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which determined that the governors had the last word on quarantines in their states. Since the beginning of the epidemic, the president has reduced the severity of the disease, which he came to call “cold sores” and contradicted the recommendations of experts to avoid crowds and wear masks. It also clashed with state governments that were trying to contain the spread of the disease in their states.
Parenthood coronavoucher
At the same time, when he described the actions of his government as “audacious”, Bolsonaro took the paternity of the emergency aid of R $ 600, the so-called coronavoucher, which the Executive himself tried to overthrow at first.
During the voting process of the measures in the Legislative, the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, even said that its limit would be R $ 200. But the mayor, Rodrigo Maia, took the amount to R $ 500 and in the end the government agreed. to close the amount at R $ 600.
Credit, Reuters
Burns in the Amazon and the Pantanal are impacting the image of Brazil and the Bolsonaro government abroad
Our government has boldly implemented various economic measures that have avoided the greatest evil. It has provided emergency aid in installments totaling approximately $ 1,000 to 65 million people, the largest assistance program for the poorest in Brazil and perhaps one of the largest in the world. world, “Bolsonaro said.
In part thanks to the transfer of resources directly to the population, Bolsonaro saw his popularity grow especially among the lower classes and expressed the desire to transform emergency aid into a permanent program, called Renda Brasil.
But the difficulty of the economic team to find ways to finance the program, which, in the president’s words, “was not taken from the poorest and given to the poorest,” caused Bolsonaro to suspend the creation of the social megaprogram until 2022.
Brazil victim of “brutal” disinformation campaign
Credit, reproduction
Bolsonaro said the repercussion of the fires in the international press is part of “one of the most brutal disinformation campaigns.”
Although almost 20% of the Pantanal has already been hit by fires this year and that in the Amazon there was a 28% increase in fires in July, Bolsonaro said that the repercussion of these events by the international press is part of ” one of the most brutal disinformation campaigns about the Amazon and the Pantanal “.
Without citing names, the president affirmed that the wealth of the Amazon “explains the support of international institutions for this campaign, based on shady interests that join with lucrative and impatriotic Brazilian associations, with the aim of harming the government and itself. Brazil”.
The president affirmed that because it is a humid area, the Amazon Rainforest does not allow the spread of fire. National and international experts have pointed out, however, that frequent fires contribute to the phenomenon of degradation, which is advancing throughout the region, leaving the forest drier and more vulnerable to fires.
The studies also refute Bolsonaro’s claim that the fires take place primarily “where the caboclo and the Indian burn their gardens in already deforested areas.” During the 2019 fire season, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (Ipam) stated that the increase in fires is directly related to deforestation.
The data also showed that the proportion of large areas (more than 500 hectares) deforested between 2018 and 2019 was the highest in ten years. This, according to experts, indicates that large producers may also be directly involved in land grabbing.
You want to know more? Read our special on deforestation in the Amazon:
Bolsonaro also said that “I maintain my policy of zero tolerance towards environmental crimes” and that these are fought rigorously. But BBC News Brazil showed that the enforcement of environmental violations by inspection bodies in the Pantanal, at the height of the burning crisis, fell by 48%. And another BBC News Brazil survey also showed that Ibama imposed a third fewer fines on environmental violators in 2019 than in 2018, according to data from the agency itself. The drop was even more pronounced in crimes against flora (burning, illegal deforestation, etc.) and in the Amazon.
During his tenure, the president also created an appeals body against fines that, according to experts, facilitate impunity for those who have been fined.
During the 2018 electoral campaign, Bolsonaro, who has already been fined for irregular fishing in an area of environmental preservation (an assessment that he prescribed), criticized the environmental inspection of farmers and ranchers, one of his electoral bases.
Hydroxychloroquine and early treatment
The president also said his government invested and encouraged the “early treatment” of coronavirus patients. Although he did not mention hydroxychloroquine at this point in his speech, the president has an advocate for prescribing the drug to COVID-19 patients at the onset of symptoms, but the recommendation has no scientific basis.
Bolsonaro himself was measured with hydroxychloroquine when he was diagnosed with covid-19, although so far it has been shown that the antimalarial drug brings more risks than benefits for those contaminated by the new coronavirus.
Credit, EPA
The surroundings of the UN, which generally fill up during the days of the General Assembly, are almost empty; most events occur virtually due to the pandemic.
Later in his speech, he mentioned the rising price of hydroxychloroquine as a risk to human survival. “The pandemic leaves the great lesson that we cannot depend on a few nations for the production of inputs and means essential for our survival. Only the input for the production of hydroxychloroquine experienced a 500% increase at the beginning of the pandemic,” he said .
Well served indigenous peoples
Bolsonaro also stated that his government “helped more than 200,000 indigenous families with food products and covid prevention.” Bolsonaro did not mention, however, that the tension between indigenous peoples and his government only increased during the pandemic and that the actions of the Executive generated action in the STF, which recommended that the government make sanitary barriers to protect native populations and guarantee their rights.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO’s arm in the Americas, stated that native populations have been five times more affected than the average Brazilian population. And in a report published in August, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxic Substances and Waste, Baskut Tuncak, stated that “in Brazil, Yanomami communities are facing an existential and health crisis due to contact with illegal miners.”
Fighting ‘cristofobia’
In a nod to his evangelical electoral base, Bolsonaro affirmed at the end of his speech: “I appeal to the entire international community for religious freedom and the fight against christophobia.” The president did not say what exactly the christopher he was referring to would be. Evangelicals are today one of the main political forces in the country and their seats represent more than 21% of the Chamber of Deputies.
On the other hand, Brazil has seen the occurrence of religious intolerance that frequently affects practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions, with attacks and destruction of the Umbanda and Candomblé temples.
Bolsonaro also affirmed that “Brazil is a Christian and conservative country and is based on the family.” However, the 1988 Constitution ensures that Brazil is a secular and secular country, and that its actions as a state must be disconnected from religious principles.
*Like Camilla Costa, by BBC News Brazil me london
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