Did Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro spend nearly $3 million on condensed milk?

Gravitas: Bolsonaro being slammed over condensed milk reports

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro slammed the media after reports emerged that his administration spent $3 million on cans of condensed milk in 2020.

Reports of the purchases triggered a debate over spending priorities weeks after he declined to extend a pandemic welfare programme.

Bolsonaro, to this end, issued expletives and insults against journalists while addressing dozens of supporters at a restaurant in Brasilia, adding the 2.5 million cans of condensed milk, one of his favourite desserts, will feed more than 370,000 members of the armed forces, among others.

"This (the cans of condensed milk) is to stick up your rears, you in the press!" Bolsonaro said in a video published on multiple social media channels, as his supporters and ministers cheered him on.

"These frivolous accusations don't take us anywhere. And if they accuse me of this, it's because they have nothing else to accuse me of."

Brazilian social media was flooded with memes linking Bolsonaro with condensed milk on Tuesday -- including one that portrayed soldiers painting a curb with paint cans filled with the viscous liquid.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bolsonaro told supporters in social media messaging app Telegram that condensed milk is ideal for soldiers, because many operate in isolated regions where fresh milk cannot be sent.

Bolsonaro has been facing pressure for almost a year for downplaying COVID-19. His administration so far has secured only 12.8 million shots for 210 million Brazilians -- most purchased from a state governor who is his political rival.

Almost 220,000 people have so far died of Covid-19 in Brazil.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro slammed the media after reports emerged that his administration spent $3 million on cans of condensed milk in 2020. Reports of the purchases triggered a debate over spending priorities weeks after he declined to extend a pandemic welfare programme.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro slammed the media after reports emerged that his administration spent $3 million on cans of condensed milk in 2020. Reports of the purchases triggered a debate over spending priorities weeks after he declined to extend a pandemic welfare programme. Bolsonaro, to this end, issued expletives and insults against journalists while addressing dozens of supporters at a restaurant in Brasilia, adding the 2.5 million cans of condensed milk, one of his favourite desserts, will feed more than 370,000 members of the armed forces, among others. "This (the cans of condensed milk) is to stick up your rears, you in the press!" Bolsonaro said in a video published on multiple social media channels, as his supporters and ministers cheered him on. "These frivolous accusations don't take us anywhere. And if they accuse me of this, it's because they have nothing else to accuse me of." Brazilian social media was flooded with memes linking Bolsonaro with condensed milk on Tuesday -- including one that portrayed soldiers painting a curb with paint cans filled with the viscous liquid. Earlier on Tuesday, Bolsonaro told supporters in social media messaging app Telegram that condensed milk is ideal for soldiers, because many operate in isolated regions where fresh milk cannot be sent. Bolsonaro has been facing pressure for almost a year for downplaying COVID-19. His administration so far has secured only 12.8 million shots for 210 million Brazilians -- most purchased from a state governor who is his political rival. Almost 220,000 people have so far died of Covid-19 in Brazil.

Brazil President Bolsonaro blasts media over reports on condensed milk

It's not just Donald Trump who is facing impeachment. In Brazil, the clamour for the impeachment of Jair Bolsonaro is getting louder by the day. WION's Palki Sharma tells you more.

Gravitas: Trump and Bolsonaro face calls for impeachment

Brazil's federally funded Fiocruz Institute said on Saturday&nbsp;it had begun distributing 2 million ready-to-use&nbsp;AstraZeneca&nbsp;PLC COVID-19 vaccines after they arrived in the country from India on Friday.

Brazil's government has a deal with&nbsp;AstraZeneca&nbsp;to produce up to 100 million doses of its vaccine locally at Rio de Janeiro's Fiocruz Institute, but the delivery of the active ingredient needed to manufacture them has been plagued by delays from China.

As a result,&nbsp;AstraZeneca&nbsp;agreed to supply the government with 2 million ready-to-use doses made in India. After a major diplomatic effort, that included a letter from Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, those shots arrived on Friday.

Until now, Brazil's widely criticised vaccine rollout has depended on a shot developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccine in partnership with Sao Paulo's Butantan Institute.

Bolsonaro had previously decried the Chinese shot as being useless, but his government is becoming increasingly reliant on it to tame the world's second most deadly coronavirus outbreak after the United States.

The far-right former army captain is under growing pressure for his handling of the rollout, which has been plagued by delays and a lack of vaccines, just as a brutal second-wave gathers steam.

Brazil's federally funded Fiocruz Institute said on Saturday it had begun distributing 2 million ready-to-use AstraZeneca PLC COVID-19 vaccines after they arrived in the country from India on Friday.

Brazil's federally funded Fiocruz Institute said on Saturday it had begun distributing 2 million ready-to-use AstraZeneca PLC COVID-19 vaccines after they arrived in the country from India on Friday. Brazil's government has a deal with AstraZeneca to produce up to 100 million doses of its vaccine locally at Rio de Janeiro's Fiocruz Institute, but the delivery of the active ingredient needed to manufacture them has been plagued by delays from China. As a result, AstraZeneca agreed to supply the government with 2 million ready-to-use doses made in India. After a major diplomatic effort, that included a letter from Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, those shots arrived on Friday. Until now, Brazil's widely criticised vaccine rollout has depended on a shot developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccine in partnership with Sao Paulo's Butantan Institute. Bolsonaro had previously decried the Chinese shot as being useless, but his government is becoming increasingly reliant on it to tame the world's second most deadly coronavirus outbreak after the United States. The far-right former army captain is under growing pressure for his handling of the rollout, which has been plagued by delays and a lack of vaccines, just as a brutal second-wave gathers steam.

Brazil's Fiocruz begins distributing 2 million India-made AstraZeneca shots

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sued by countries indigenous leaders for crimes against humanity. Two top Brazilian indigenous leaders have asked the international criminal court to investigate President Bolsonaro for 'crime against humanity'.

Brazilian Prez Bolsonaro sued for crimes against humanity

Two top Brazillian indigenous leaders on Friday, asked International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for 'crimes against humanity'. They have accused him of unprecedented environmental damage, killings and persecution. Chief Raoni Metuktire, the leader of the Kayapo people, and Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, leader of the Paiter Surui tribe, filed the claim at the ICC on Friday.

Since Bolsonaro became president in January 2019, "the destruction of the Amazonian forest has accelerated without measure," said the complaint to the ICC, reported by France's Le Monde newspaper on Saturday.

The complaint said that the deforestation had increased "by 34.5 per cent in a year, the assassination of indigenous leaders is at an 11-year high and environmental agencies have collapsed or faced threats."

The two leaders said killings and forced transfer of locals and persecution amounted to "crimes against humanity".

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/with-a-hanuman-image-brazil-president-bolsonaro-thanks-pm-modi-for-covid-vaccines-358644">With a Hanuman image, Brazil President Bolsonaro thanks PM Modi for COVID vaccines</a>

Bolsonaro government has proposed legislation that would relax restrictions in Amazon regions on commercial mining, oil and gas extraction and agriculture.

Activists are pushing for ecocide to be added to the crimes prosecuted by the ICC, alongside genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.&nbsp;

The issue was raised by the Maldives and Vanuatu at the ICC general assembly in December 2019.&nbsp;

"This situation, the most dramatic in the last 10 years, is a direct result of the policies of Jair Bolsonaro", who wants to "lift all the barriers to plunder the wealth of the Amazon," the suit said, also singling out mining firms. 
It said the "destruction of the Amazon forest... was a direct danger not only for Brazilians but for all humanity."

In July last year, health workers in Brazil had also urged the ICC to probe Bolsonaro for crimes against humanity over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A month earlier Chief Raoni had told AFP in an interview that Bolsonaro was trying to use the pandemic to eliminate indigenous people.

(With AFP inputs)

Two top Brazillian indigenous leaders on Friday, asked International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for 'crimes against humanity'. They have accused him of unprecedented environmental damage, killings and persecution.

Two top Brazillian indigenous leaders on Friday, asked International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for 'crimes against humanity'. They have accused him of unprecedented environmental damage, killings and persecution. Chief Raoni Metuktire, the leader of the Kayapo people, and Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, leader of the Paiter Surui tribe, filed the claim at the ICC on Friday. Since Bolsonaro became president in January 2019, "the destruction of the Amazonian forest has accelerated without measure," said the complaint to the ICC, reported by France's Le Monde newspaper on Saturday. The complaint said that the deforestation had increased "by 34.5 per cent in a year, the assassination of indigenous leaders is at an 11-year high and environmental agencies have collapsed or faced threats." The two leaders said killings and forced transfer of locals and persecution amounted to "crimes against humanity". Also Read | With a Hanuman image, Brazil President Bolsonaro thanks PM Modi for COVID vaccines Bolsonaro government has proposed legislation that would relax restrictions in Amazon regions on commercial mining, oil and gas extraction and agriculture. Activists are pushing for ecocide to be added to the crimes prosecuted by the ICC, alongside genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The issue was raised by the Maldives and Vanuatu at the ICC general assembly in December 2019. "This situation, the most dramatic in the last 10 years, is a direct result of the policies of Jair Bolsonaro", who wants to "lift all the barriers to plunder the wealth of the Amazon," the suit said, also singling out mining firms. It said the "destruction of the Amazon forest... was a direct danger not only for Brazilians but for all humanity." In July last year, health workers in Brazil had also urged the ICC to probe Bolsonaro for crimes against humanity over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. A month earlier Chief Raoni had told AFP in an interview that Bolsonaro was trying to use the pandemic to eliminate indigenous people. (With AFP inputs)

Indigenous leaders of Brazil sue Bolsonaro for 'crimes against humanity'

20 lakh Contracted doses of India made covid vaccines reached Brazil from India in the wee hours of Saturday morning even as the Brazilian President thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet depicting Hanuman Ji with the "Sanjeevani" herb.

Sanjeevani, mentioned in Ramayan is a "magical herb" which lord Hanuman brought by lifting an entire mountain.

The Brazilian President tweeted, "Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil."

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- Namaskar, Primeiro Ministro <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a> 
 
- O Brasil sente-se honrado em ter um grande parceiro para superar um obstáculo global. Obrigado por nos auxiliar com as exportações de vacinas da Índia para o Brasil. 
 
- Dhanyavaad! धनयवाद <a href="https://t.co/OalUTnB5p8">pic.twitter.com/OalUTnB5p8</a>
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1352630623173828610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Not for the first time the Brazilian President has made references to Hanuman and Ramayan. Last year he wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting hydroxychloroquine and lauding Indian efforts.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/with-a-hanuman-image-brazil-president-bolsonaro-thanks-pm-modi-for-covid-vaccines-358644" hreflang="en">With Hanuman image, Brazil Prez Bolsonaro thanks PM Modi for COVID vaccines</a>

In the letter, he said, "Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama's brother Lakshman... India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings &nbsp;for the sake of all people."

India gave a go-ahead to commercial exports of India made vaccines from Friday, 7 days after it began its mega countrywide vaccination. Other than Brazil, Morocco got its contracted commercial supplies on Friday, becoming the first country to get the supplies.

South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar expected to get commercial supplies soon commence shortly. Both Myanmar and Bangladesh have contracted 30 million doses of vaccines from India. Supplies to Bangladesh is expected to begin next week.

South African govt has announced that they will be getting one million doses of covid vaccine in January and 500,000 doses in February of the oxford University-Astrazeneca vaccine--COVISHIELD from Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Last week saw India gifting Covid vaccine supplies to 7 countries in the region as part of "neighborhood first" policy. These are Bhutan (150,000) , Maldives (100,000) , Nepal (One million) , Bangladesh (2 million) , Myanmar (1.5 M), Seychelles (50,000) , Mauritius (100,000),

Indian Navy's P8I reached Seychelles and Mauritius with the supplies on Friday. The delivery is part of a normal profile of the Indian Navy's P-8I, which carries out extensive surveillance in the Indian ocean.

In Mauritius, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth was personally present at the airport, along with the Indian envoy to the country Nandini Singla as the supplies landed. Lauding India reaching out to its neighbourhood, PM Jugnauth said, "we warmly applaud India for leading by example &amp; PM Modi ji is donating covid vaccine to countries with which India has friendly relations. We feel highly privileged that Mauritius is one of those countries."

Adding, "The shipment of vaccines which have reached our shores today bears testimony of the international solidarity of India....we are also inspired by public announcement of PM Modi ji to the global community that India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity to fight the pandemic"

PM Jugnauth joins world leaders like Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli and Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina in expressing gratitude to India for New Delhi's vaccine outreach.

India produces 60% of the world's vaccines, with world health organization getting 70% of its vaccines from the country. Last year amid the pandemic, the Indian govt sent HCQ and Paracetamol to 150 countries reaffirming its position as the pharma capital of the world.

20 lakh Contracted doses of India made covid vaccines reached Brazil from India in the wee hours of Saturday morning even as the Brazilian President thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet depicting Hanuman Ji with the "Sanjeevani" herb.

20 lakh Contracted doses of India made covid vaccines reached Brazil from India in the wee hours of Saturday morning even as the Brazilian President thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet depicting Hanuman Ji with the "Sanjeevani" herb. Sanjeevani, mentioned in Ramayan is a "magical herb" which lord Hanuman brought by lifting an entire mountain. The Brazilian President tweeted, "Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil." - Namaskar, Primeiro Ministro @narendramodi - O Brasil sente-se honrado em ter um grande parceiro para superar um obstáculo global. Obrigado por nos auxiliar com as exportações de vacinas da Índia para o Brasil. - Dhanyavaad! धनयवाद pic.twitter.com/OalUTnB5p8 — Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) January 22, 2021 × Not for the first time the Brazilian President has made references to Hanuman and Ramayan. Last year he wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting hydroxychloroquine and lauding Indian efforts. Also read: With Hanuman image, Brazil Prez Bolsonaro thanks PM Modi for COVID vaccines In the letter, he said, "Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama's brother Lakshman... India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings for the sake of all people." India gave a go-ahead to commercial exports of India made vaccines from Friday, 7 days after it began its mega countrywide vaccination. Other than Brazil, Morocco got its contracted commercial supplies on Friday, becoming the first country to get the supplies. South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar expected to get commercial supplies soon commence shortly. Both Myanmar and Bangladesh have contracted 30 million doses of vaccines from India. Supplies to Bangladesh is expected to begin next week. South African govt has announced that they will be getting one million doses of covid vaccine in January and 500,000 doses in February of the oxford University-Astrazeneca vaccine--COVISHIELD from Pune-based Serum Institute of India. Last week saw India gifting Covid vaccine supplies to 7 countries in the region as part of "neighborhood first" policy. These are Bhutan (150,000) , Maldives (100,000) , Nepal (One million) , Bangladesh (2 million) , Myanmar (1.5 M), Seychelles (50,000) , Mauritius (100,000), Indian Navy's P8I reached Seychelles and Mauritius with the supplies on Friday. The delivery is part of a normal profile of the Indian Navy's P-8I, which carries out extensive surveillance in the Indian ocean. In Mauritius, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth was personally present at the airport, along with the Indian envoy to the country Nandini Singla as the supplies landed. Lauding India reaching out to its neighbourhood, PM Jugnauth said, "we warmly applaud India for leading by example & PM Modi ji is donating covid vaccine to countries with which India has friendly relations. We feel highly privileged that Mauritius is one of those countries." Adding, "The shipment of vaccines which have reached our shores today bears testimony of the international solidarity of India....we are also inspired by public announcement of PM Modi ji to the global community that India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity to fight the pandemic" PM Jugnauth joins world leaders like Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli and Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina in expressing gratitude to India for New Delhi's vaccine outreach. India produces 60% of the world's vaccines, with world health organization getting 70% of its vaccines from the country. Last year amid the pandemic, the Indian govt sent HCQ and Paracetamol to 150 countries reaffirming its position as the pharma capital of the world.

India's 'Sanjeevani' COVID vaccine supplies reach Brazil, 7 countries in neighbourhood

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite a shipment of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine amid broader delays to the vaccine's arrival in&nbsp;Brazil, according to a letter on Friday.

Bolsonaro's letter, released by his press office, comes amid growing pressure to speed up&nbsp;Brazil's vaccine rollout and end the world's second-deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Critics say the immunization campaign is running behind regional peers, and they question why the government has not moved more quickly.

"To enable the immediate implementation of our National Immunization Program, I would appreciate ... the supply to&nbsp;Brazil, with the possible urgency and without jeopardizing the Indian vaccination program, of 2 million doses," Bolsonaro wrote in the letter, shared by his press office.

His message to Modi comes as the federally funded Fiocruz biomedical center said on Friday that the active ingredients needed to fill and finish millions of doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in&nbsp;Brazil, previously slated to arrive in the country on Saturday, may not land until the end of the month.

Fiocruz, which was counting on the shipment Saturday to supply the government with doses this month, said it was in talks to import more finished doses of the vaccine, likely from India on top of the 2 million it has already ordered.

A source involved said the active ingredient is ready to be shipped to&nbsp;Brazil&nbsp;but is waiting for an export license from China, where it is produced.

Earlier, Fiocruz requested an emergency use authorisation for AstraZeneca vaccines coming from India, which are expected to arrive in&nbsp;Brazil&nbsp;in the middle of this month.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite a shipment of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine amid broader delays to the vaccine's arrival in Brazil, according to a letter on Friday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite a shipment of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine amid broader delays to the vaccine's arrival in Brazil, according to a letter on Friday. Bolsonaro's letter, released by his press office, comes amid growing pressure to speed up Brazil's vaccine rollout and end the world's second-deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Critics say the immunization campaign is running behind regional peers, and they question why the government has not moved more quickly. "To enable the immediate implementation of our National Immunization Program, I would appreciate ... the supply to Brazil, with the possible urgency and without jeopardizing the Indian vaccination program, of 2 million doses," Bolsonaro wrote in the letter, shared by his press office. His message to Modi comes as the federally funded Fiocruz biomedical center said on Friday that the active ingredients needed to fill and finish millions of doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in Brazil, previously slated to arrive in the country on Saturday, may not land until the end of the month. Fiocruz, which was counting on the shipment Saturday to supply the government with doses this month, said it was in talks to import more finished doses of the vaccine, likely from India on top of the 2 million it has already ordered. A source involved said the active ingredient is ready to be shipped to Brazil but is waiting for an export license from China, where it is produced. Earlier, Fiocruz requested an emergency use authorisation for AstraZeneca vaccines coming from India, which are expected to arrive in Brazil in the middle of this month.

Brazil's Bolsonaro asks India to expedite vaccine shipment as delays loom

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro&nbsp;on Wednesday that his country is ''broke'' and he ''can't do anything about it'',&nbsp;attributing the crisis to "the press-fueled" coronavirus.

The subsidies which have kept millions of Brazilians from destitution ended as the pandemic, which has killed almost 200,000 people in the country, only worsens.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-world-scampers-for-vaccine-bolsonaro-working-in-two-modes-denial-and-bizarre-351478">As world scampers for vaccine, Bolsonaro working in two modes: denial and bizarre</a>

Pressed by supporters outside the presidential palace on Tuesday asking for economic relief, Bolsonaro scowled.

"Brazil is broke, boss, I cannot do anything," the former army officer said, responding to one of the supporters who greeted him in front of his official residence in the capital Brasilia.

"I wanted to modify the tax reduction table, but there was that press-fueled virus that we have there, that press without any character," Bolsonaro said.

The reform he was referring to was a campaign promise for a raise in the level of tax-exempt income. Bolsonaro attributes the country's economic collapse to lockdown measures pushed by state governors to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Bolsonaro&nbsp;has been widely criticised for dismissing the dangers of the coronavirus and is now facing questions over delays to Brazil’s vaccine rollout.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bolsonaro-under-fire-over-brazils-troubled-vaccine-roll-out-350890">Bolsonaro under fire over Brazil's troubled vaccine roll-out</a>

Nearly 200,000 Brazilians have died from COVID-19, yet a national immunisation program is still at least three weeks away, even as inoculations have already begun in regional peers Chile, Mexico and Argentina.

Despite his country's soaring death toll, Bolsonaro saw his popularity rise thanks to emergency aid paid out for nine months to 68 million Brazilians, almost a third of the population.

But those payments ended this month under pressure from markets worried about the country's high deficit and debt.

Marcelo Neri, director of the Center for Social Policies of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), warned Brazil may be "on the edge of a social abyss."

"No matter how strong the president's words are, I see them as a rhetorical argument to politically prepare for cuts in emergency spending and trying to balance public spending," said Andre Perfeito, of investment group Necton.

"The situation is serious," said Perfeito, who noted that "the central problem is not the lack of money, but the lack of a clear plan" in a country that still does not have a start date for vaccinations against Covid-19.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the number of new infections and deaths continued to climb.

In the last 24 hours, the South American giant logged 1,171 deaths and almost 60,000 new cases, numbers that should skyrocket in the coming weeks due to the massive celebrations that took place over the Christmas and New Year holidays, according to health officials.

Brazil’s economy is likely to grow 3 per cent&nbsp;in 2021 and less next year, the World Bank said on Tuesday, as stimulus fades and the country struggles to recover output lost in the pandemic.

The World Bank’s forecast for Brazil’s 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) is 0.8 percentage point higher than its June estimate, but not enough to offset a likely 4.5&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;drop in 2020 amid the world’s worst COVID-19 death toll outside the United States.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday that his country is ''broke'' and he ''can't do anything about it'', attributing the crisis to "the press-fueled" coronavirus.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday that his country is ''broke'' and he ''can't do anything about it'', attributing the crisis to "the press-fueled" coronavirus. The subsidies which have kept millions of Brazilians from destitution ended as the pandemic, which has killed almost 200,000 people in the country, only worsens. Also read: As world scampers for vaccine, Bolsonaro working in two modes: denial and bizarre Pressed by supporters outside the presidential palace on Tuesday asking for economic relief, Bolsonaro scowled. "Brazil is broke, boss, I cannot do anything," the former army officer said, responding to one of the supporters who greeted him in front of his official residence in the capital Brasilia. "I wanted to modify the tax reduction table, but there was that press-fueled virus that we have there, that press without any character," Bolsonaro said. The reform he was referring to was a campaign promise for a raise in the level of tax-exempt income. Bolsonaro attributes the country's economic collapse to lockdown measures pushed by state governors to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Bolsonaro has been widely criticised for dismissing the dangers of the coronavirus and is now facing questions over delays to Brazil’s vaccine rollout. Also read: Bolsonaro under fire over Brazil's troubled vaccine roll-out Nearly 200,000 Brazilians have died from COVID-19, yet a national immunisation program is still at least three weeks away, even as inoculations have already begun in regional peers Chile, Mexico and Argentina. Despite his country's soaring death toll, Bolsonaro saw his popularity rise thanks to emergency aid paid out for nine months to 68 million Brazilians, almost a third of the population. But those payments ended this month under pressure from markets worried about the country's high deficit and debt. Marcelo Neri, director of the Center for Social Policies of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), warned Brazil may be "on the edge of a social abyss." "No matter how strong the president's words are, I see them as a rhetorical argument to politically prepare for cuts in emergency spending and trying to balance public spending," said Andre Perfeito, of investment group Necton. "The situation is serious," said Perfeito, who noted that "the central problem is not the lack of money, but the lack of a clear plan" in a country that still does not have a start date for vaccinations against Covid-19. Meanwhile, the number of new infections and deaths continued to climb. In the last 24 hours, the South American giant logged 1,171 deaths and almost 60,000 new cases, numbers that should skyrocket in the coming weeks due to the massive celebrations that took place over the Christmas and New Year holidays, according to health officials. Brazil’s economy is likely to grow 3 per cent in 2021 and less next year, the World Bank said on Tuesday, as stimulus fades and the country struggles to recover output lost in the pandemic. The World Bank’s forecast for Brazil’s 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) is 0.8 percentage point higher than its June estimate, but not enough to offset a likely 4.5 per cent drop in 2020 amid the world’s worst COVID-19 death toll outside the United States.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says his country is 'broke' and he 'can't do anything'

A 33-metre artwork depicting a concrete vagina has drawn the backlash of ring-wing President Jair Bolsonaro's government in Brazil.

Supporters of Bolsonaro's government are criticising the explicit handmade artwork called 'Diva' as ''problematic representation of gender''.

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Passei a tarde pensando sobre essa obra da Juliana Notari. Uma escultura de vulva que ela descreve como um ato de resistência artística e problematização de gênero, mas que pra ser criada usou praticamente só mão de obra de homens negros 
 
uma sátira do feminismo branco? <a href="https://t.co/V0zcq6sUpf">pic.twitter.com/V0zcq6sUpf</a>
— jess (@ladygrisa) <a href="https://twitter.com/ladygrisa/status/1345112395233034240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The sculpture was installed in a rural&nbsp;park near a sugar mill in&nbsp;Pernambuco, one of Brazil's most culturally vibrant city.

According to artist&nbsp;Juliana Notari, the creator of the&nbsp;'concrete vagina'&nbsp;is a&nbsp;“question the relationship between nature and culture in our phallocentric and anthropocentric western society”.

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Em meio a tantas rochas no meio do caminho desse ano distópico, finalmente termino o ano com a obra Diva pronta!! Foi um...
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliana.notari">Juliana Notari</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliana.notari/posts/10219401789651753">Wednesday, December 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Several art critics took to social media to critise the ''obscene'' and ''transphobic'' sculpture.&nbsp;

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A white woman named Juliana Notari used a bunch of Black men to create a vagina on a hill. 
 
Not only is this transphobic, but what is it with white feminists equating on their body parts with their womanhood. It's fucking creepy. <a href="https://t.co/nJeUegqfI2">pic.twitter.com/nJeUegqfI2</a>
— Dr. Chesya Burke (@ChesyaBurkePhD) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChesyaBurkePhD/status/1345036217000341504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
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However, trans cartoonist&nbsp;Laerte Coutinho celebrated the sculpture saying&nbsp;“There’s a lot to think about in this work.”

Even&nbsp;Pernambuco-based filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho praised the artwork saying&nbsp;“The reactions to your work are a mirror [of society], a success.”&nbsp;

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Juliana devia publicar em livro coffee-table as reações à Diva, inclusive várias desse meu post. No futuro, vai virar documento da época em que o Brasil virou um bong gigante.
— Kleber Mendonça Filho (@kmendoncafilho) <a href="https://twitter.com/kmendoncafilho/status/1345753473208508427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Since taking office in 2019, Bolsonaro's conservative right-wing government has slammed liberal artists as ''decadent spongers who milk public funds to peddle communist garbage.''

A 33-metre artwork depicting a concrete vagina has drawn the backlash of ring-wing President Jair Bolsonaro's government in Brazil. Supporters of Bolsonaro's government are criticising the explicit handmade artwork called 'Diva' as ''problematic representation of gender''.

A 33-metre artwork depicting a concrete vagina has drawn the backlash of ring-wing President Jair Bolsonaro's government in Brazil. Supporters of Bolsonaro's government are criticising the explicit handmade artwork called 'Diva' as ''problematic representation of gender''. Passei a tarde pensando sobre essa obra da Juliana Notari. Uma escultura de vulva que ela descreve como um ato de resistência artística e problematização de gênero, mas que pra ser criada usou praticamente só mão de obra de homens negros uma sátira do feminismo branco? pic.twitter.com/V0zcq6sUpf — jess (@ladygrisa) January 1, 2021 × The sculpture was installed in a rural park near a sugar mill in Pernambuco, one of Brazil's most culturally vibrant city. According to artist Juliana Notari, the creator of the 'concrete vagina' is a “question the relationship between nature and culture in our phallocentric and anthropocentric western society”. Em meio a tantas rochas no meio do caminho desse ano distópico, finalmente termino o ano com a obra Diva pronta!! Foi um... Posted by Juliana Notari on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 × Several art critics took to social media to critise the ''obscene'' and ''transphobic'' sculpture. A white woman named Juliana Notari used a bunch of Black men to create a vagina on a hill. Not only is this transphobic, but what is it with white feminists equating on their body parts with their womanhood. It's fucking creepy. pic.twitter.com/nJeUegqfI2 — Dr. Chesya Burke (@ChesyaBurkePhD) January 1, 2021 × However, trans cartoonist Laerte Coutinho celebrated the sculpture saying “There’s a lot to think about in this work.” Even Pernambuco-based filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho praised the artwork saying “The reactions to your work are a mirror [of society], a success.” Juliana devia publicar em livro coffee-table as reações à Diva, inclusive várias desse meu post. No futuro, vai virar documento da época em que o Brasil virou um bong gigante. — Kleber Mendonça Filho (@kmendoncafilho) January 3, 2021 × Since taking office in 2019, Bolsonaro's conservative right-wing government has slammed liberal artists as ''decadent spongers who milk public funds to peddle communist garbage.''

Artwork depicting vagina draws Bolsonaro's ire in Brazil

Brazil is facing a dire situation as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to make bizarre claims & statements. When countries are rushing to innoculate their citizens, Brazilians are left with chaos & confusion. Molly Gambhir tells you why.

Is the President of Brazil living in another reality?

'Vaccine may turn you into crocodiles' is the latest suggestion by Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro. Palki Sharma Upadhyay gets you a report on Bolsonaro's never-ending pandemic denial.

Gravitas: Bolsonaro sceptic on Vaccine side-effects

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Saudi Arabia Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah, and US Vice President Mike Pence are among the list of world leaders that received <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus-vaccine">coronavirus jab</a> on camera to instil confidence in people's mind.

In another world in Brazil, thousands have flocked to Rio de Janeiro's famed beaches as the summer starts in the Southern Hemisphere.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-bolsonaro-sceptic-on-vaccine-side-effects-351473/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

These people are not wearing any masks nor maintaining social distancing, it's just volleyball games and a lot of beach umbrellas.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/women-may-grow-beard-after-taking-pfizer-vaccine-jair-bolsonaro-351054">Women may grow beard after taking Pfizer vaccine: Jair Bolsonaro</a>

This is a scene in a country whose president has been in denial of the pandemic since forever.&nbsp;

President Jair Bolsonar is dubbed as Trump of the Topics, but comparing him with President Donald Trump would not be appropriate anymore.&nbsp;

Bolsonaro is in a league of his own when it comes to denying the severity of this pandemic.&nbsp;

When Brazil became the world's second most infected country, he was eating out hot dogs and sipping on soft drinks, insisting that the country cannot afford to impose a lockdown.&nbsp;

It led to several Brazilians demanding a lockdown and to counter these movements, Bolsonrao organised anti-lockdown rallies.

Bolsonaro attended these rallies where he posed for selfies and hugged young children.&nbsp;

And now, when there is some hope to see the end of this pandemic with the rollout of vaccines, the Brazilian president is saying he will not get inoculated.&nbsp;

He says he has already had the virus and has developed antibodies, so why should he take the vaccine again.&nbsp;

"If you do not want to be treated, you have the right not to be treated. I decide, for example, not to do chemotherapy and I decide to die, it's my problem. &nbsp;And we in the federal government have already informed that, once the vaccines are approved by ANVISA (Health Regulation Agency), the vaccine will be offered to everyone, but those who do not want to take them do not have to. I will not take it. Some people say I'm setting a bad example, who says I'm an idiot, I've already had the virus, I have the antibodies, why take the vaccine again," said Bolsonaro.&nbsp;

The denial is bad enough and now Bolonaro is sowing scepticism by talking about the potential side effects of this vaccine.&nbsp;

In one of the very bizarre statements, Bolsonaro has said that there's a possibility that the vaccine can turn people into crocodiles and make women grow a beard and men talk like women.&nbsp;

He said that if any of this thing happens, it won't be his fault

"And another thing that has to be made very clear here is that there, at Pfizer, it is very clear in the contract - 'we are not responsible for any side effects'. If you become an alligator it is your problem; I am not going to talk about another animal because it would not be wise (in Brazilian slang, the word for deer means gay), if you become a superman, if some women start to grow a beard or if some men start to talk like women it is not going to be my fault. Or worse, they are playing with our immune system. How can you force someone to take a vaccine that hasn't even completed the third phase," he said.&nbsp;

These are the words of a head of state who is peddling such wild theories and audience is responding with an applause.&nbsp;

Brazil is the third worst-hit country in the world and the leaders, including Trump, have started taking the pandemic seriously.&nbsp;

But, Bolsonaro continues to believe in another reality.&nbsp;

All we can say in conclusion is it's better to grow a beard or even turn into a crocodile, better than being dead.&nbsp;

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Saudi Arabia Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah, and US Vice President Mike Pence are among the list of world leaders that received coronavirus jab on camera to instil confidence in people's mind.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Saudi Arabia Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah, and US Vice President Mike Pence are among the list of world leaders that received coronavirus jab on camera to instil confidence in people's mind. In another world in Brazil, thousands have flocked to Rio de Janeiro's famed beaches as the summer starts in the Southern Hemisphere. Watch | These people are not wearing any masks nor maintaining social distancing, it's just volleyball games and a lot of beach umbrellas. Also read | Women may grow beard after taking Pfizer vaccine: Jair Bolsonaro This is a scene in a country whose president has been in denial of the pandemic since forever. President Jair Bolsonar is dubbed as Trump of the Topics, but comparing him with President Donald Trump would not be appropriate anymore. Bolsonaro is in a league of his own when it comes to denying the severity of this pandemic. When Brazil became the world's second most infected country, he was eating out hot dogs and sipping on soft drinks, insisting that the country cannot afford to impose a lockdown. It led to several Brazilians demanding a lockdown and to counter these movements, Bolsonrao organised anti-lockdown rallies. Bolsonaro attended these rallies where he posed for selfies and hugged young children. And now, when there is some hope to see the end of this pandemic with the rollout of vaccines, the Brazilian president is saying he will not get inoculated. He says he has already had the virus and has developed antibodies, so why should he take the vaccine again. "If you do not want to be treated, you have the right not to be treated. I decide, for example, not to do chemotherapy and I decide to die, it's my problem. And we in the federal government have already informed that, once the vaccines are approved by ANVISA (Health Regulation Agency), the vaccine will be offered to everyone, but those who do not want to take them do not have to. I will not take it. Some people say I'm setting a bad example, who says I'm an idiot, I've already had the virus, I have the antibodies, why take the vaccine again," said Bolsonaro. The denial is bad enough and now Bolonaro is sowing scepticism by talking about the potential side effects of this vaccine. In one of the very bizarre statements, Bolsonaro has said that there's a possibility that the vaccine can turn people into crocodiles and make women grow a beard and men talk like women. He said that if any of this thing happens, it won't be his fault "And another thing that has to be made very clear here is that there, at Pfizer, it is very clear in the contract - 'we are not responsible for any side effects'. If you become an alligator it is your problem; I am not going to talk about another animal because it would not be wise (in Brazilian slang, the word for deer means gay), if you become a superman, if some women start to grow a beard or if some men start to talk like women it is not going to be my fault. Or worse, they are playing with our immune system. How can you force someone to take a vaccine that hasn't even completed the third phase," he said. These are the words of a head of state who is peddling such wild theories and audience is responding with an applause. Brazil is the third worst-hit country in the world and the leaders, including Trump, have started taking the pandemic seriously. But, Bolsonaro continues to believe in another reality. All we can say in conclusion is it's better to grow a beard or even turn into a crocodile, better than being dead.

As world scampers for vaccine, Bolsonaro working in two modes: denial and bizarre

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faced scathing criticism Sunday over his government's plan — or lack thereof, opponents said — to vaccinate the population against Covid-19.

Brazil, the country with the second-highest death toll in the pandemic, published its vaccination plan Saturday with some notable holes, including a start date to begin immunizing and details of how to reach its target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the population.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/first-covid-19-shots-in-us-to-be-administered-as-early-as-monday-349380" hreflang="en">First COVID-19 shots in US to be administered as early as Monday</a>

That prompted a new salvo of criticism for the far-right president, who has persistently defied expert advice on containing the pandemic and recently declared he did not plan to be vaccinated himself.

"President Jair Bolsonaro's murderous stupidity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic has surpassed all limits," leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo said in a front-page editorial.

"Enough shenanigans with the vaccine!"

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-regulator-approves-pfizer-biontech-coronavirus-vaccine-349187" hreflang="en">Mexico regulator approves Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine</a>

Rival daily Estado de Sao Paulo was equally harsh, condemning the government's "lethal incompetence."

The vaccination plan, which the Supreme Court required the government to present, provides for initial immunization of about 14 million high-risk people, including health workers, the elderly and indigenous Brazilians.

It envisions three subsequent phases reaching a total of 51.6 million people, about 24 per cent of the population.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dirty-methods-being-used-to-discredit-sputnik-v-vaccine-kremlin-349147" hreflang="en">'Dirty methods' being used to discredit Sputnik V vaccine: Kremlin</a>

It says the optimal target is more than 70 per cent of the population but provides no details on how to reach that figure.

Public health experts were bluntly critical of the plan.

"The health ministry is trying to make the Brazilian people and the Supreme Court look like clowns," tweeted the microbiologist Natalia Pasternak, a regular critic of the government's response to Covid-19.

She pointed out that the plan counts on 70 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine being available even though their purchase is still being negotiated, and it provides no information on how they will be stored at the required -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit).

The criticism came on the same day Folha published a poll finding that 22 per cent of Brazilians do not plan to be vaccinated against Covid-19, up from nine per cent in August.

Critics say Bolsonaro's sceptical comments are deterring many Brazilians from getting vaccinated.

He has downplayed the virus as a "little flu," and said Thursday that "we're at the tail end of the pandemic."

Covid-19 vaccines have been swept up in a political battle in Brazil between Bolsonaro and a likely presidential rival, Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, who is pushing to immunize people in his state with Chinese-developed vaccine CoronaVac, over the president's objections.

The federal vaccination plan does not include CoronaVac. Doria's government has secured 46 million doses of it and wants to start immunizing people on January 25.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faced scathing criticism Sunday over his government's plan — or lack thereof, opponents said — to vaccinate the population against Covid-19.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faced scathing criticism Sunday over his government's plan — or lack thereof, opponents said — to vaccinate the population against Covid-19. Brazil, the country with the second-highest death toll in the pandemic, published its vaccination plan Saturday with some notable holes, including a start date to begin immunizing and details of how to reach its target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the population. Also read| First COVID-19 shots in US to be administered as early as Monday That prompted a new salvo of criticism for the far-right president, who has persistently defied expert advice on containing the pandemic and recently declared he did not plan to be vaccinated himself. "President Jair Bolsonaro's murderous stupidity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic has surpassed all limits," leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo said in a front-page editorial. "Enough shenanigans with the vaccine!" Also read| Mexico regulator approves Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine Rival daily Estado de Sao Paulo was equally harsh, condemning the government's "lethal incompetence." The vaccination plan, which the Supreme Court required the government to present, provides for initial immunization of about 14 million high-risk people, including health workers, the elderly and indigenous Brazilians. It envisions three subsequent phases reaching a total of 51.6 million people, about 24 per cent of the population. Also read| 'Dirty methods' being used to discredit Sputnik V vaccine: Kremlin It says the optimal target is more than 70 per cent of the population but provides no details on how to reach that figure. Public health experts were bluntly critical of the plan. "The health ministry is trying to make the Brazilian people and the Supreme Court look like clowns," tweeted the microbiologist Natalia Pasternak, a regular critic of the government's response to Covid-19. She pointed out that the plan counts on 70 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine being available even though their purchase is still being negotiated, and it provides no information on how they will be stored at the required -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit). The criticism came on the same day Folha published a poll finding that 22 per cent of Brazilians do not plan to be vaccinated against Covid-19, up from nine per cent in August. Critics say Bolsonaro's sceptical comments are deterring many Brazilians from getting vaccinated. He has downplayed the virus as a "little flu," and said Thursday that "we're at the tail end of the pandemic." Covid-19 vaccines have been swept up in a political battle in Brazil between Bolsonaro and a likely presidential rival, Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, who is pushing to immunize people in his state with Chinese-developed vaccine CoronaVac, over the president's objections. The federal vaccination plan does not include CoronaVac. Doria's government has secured 46 million doses of it and wants to start immunizing people on January 25.

Brazil's vaccination plan is assailed as 'incompetent'

President&nbsp;Jair&nbsp;Bolsonaro has said&nbsp;the end of the pandemic was in sight for Brazil, despite a worsening second wave of infections, with daily case numbers back to mid-August levels.

"We're at the tail end of the pandemic. Compared to other countries in the world, our government was the best, or one of the best, in handling it," the far-right president said on a visit to the southern city of Porto Alegre.

Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-and-his-non-normal-antics-314020">Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and his 'non-normal' antics</a>

Brazil has the world's second-deadliest outbreak of the novel coronavirus after the United States, with more than 178,000 deaths. The continent-sized country, with a population of 212 million, has registered 6.7 million confirmed cases.

The comment came in for criticism from his opponents in Brazil. The government's own figures lend little support to the president's assessment.

Brazil, which endured a brutal plateau of more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths a day from June to August, had succeeded in bringing its average daily death toll down to about 300 last month. However, that number has again risen above 800 this week.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/journalists-are-wimps-more-likely-to-die-of-coronavirus-says-brazils-bolsonaro-322872">Journalists are 'wimps'; more likely to die of coronavirus, says Brazil's Bolsonaro</a>

Intensive care units at public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro are meanwhile 100 percent full, and preparations for an eventual vaccination campaign have been caught up in a political battle between Bolsonaro and a likely adversary in the 2022 presidential race, Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria.

Bolsonaro has been at odds with health experts over how to respond to the pandemic.

He has downplayed the new coronavirus as a "little flu," condemned the "hysteria" around it, and pushed to use the drug hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19, despite a raft of studies showing it is ineffective.

Political tensions

Doses of a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus-vaccine">COVID-19 vaccine</a> made by China's Sinovac Biotech are rolling off a Brazilian production line, drawing interest around the country and across Latin America from governments struggling to procure costlier vaccines.

Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria said at a news conference on Thursday (December 10) that the state's biomedical centre, the Butantan Institute, aims to fill and finish 1 million doses per day on its production line for a vaccination campaign to start Jan. 25.

Doria said 11 Brazilian states have contacted Butantan seeking the doses of the vaccine, called CoronaVac, setting up a showdown with President&nbsp;Jair&nbsp;Bolsonaro, who has said he refuses to buy the Chinese vaccine for a national immunization program.

At the same news conference, Butantan head Dimas Covas said several countries in the region, including Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay and Honduras are interested in buying the CoronaVac vaccine from Brazil. Butantan is in advanced talks with Argentina to the supply vaccine, he said.

Dimas said CoronaVac doses would cost $10.30 to Brazilian states and cities outside of Sao Paulo, a fraction of what U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies are charging for COVID-19 vaccines.

Butantan has begun to build a facility where it plans to produce the vaccine from scratch as of September 2021 instead of receiving it in bulk from China to fill and label vials.

Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello has said that vaccinations could begin in January. Pressure has been mounting, with state governors criticising the federal government as unprepared for a mass immunisation campaign and failing to secure a diverse enough supply of vaccines.

Pazuello repeated the ministry would buy any effective vaccines that are approved by health regulator Anvisa and reasonably priced, opening the door to a federal purchase of the Chinese vaccine.

President Jair Bolsonaro has said the end of the pandemic was in sight for Brazil, despite a worsening second wave of infections, with daily case numbers back to mid-August levels.

President Jair Bolsonaro has said the end of the pandemic was in sight for Brazil, despite a worsening second wave of infections, with daily case numbers back to mid-August levels. "We're at the tail end of the pandemic. Compared to other countries in the world, our government was the best, or one of the best, in handling it," the far-right president said on a visit to the southern city of Porto Alegre. Also see: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and his 'non-normal' antics Brazil has the world's second-deadliest outbreak of the novel coronavirus after the United States, with more than 178,000 deaths. The continent-sized country, with a population of 212 million, has registered 6.7 million confirmed cases. The comment came in for criticism from his opponents in Brazil. The government's own figures lend little support to the president's assessment. Brazil, which endured a brutal plateau of more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths a day from June to August, had succeeded in bringing its average daily death toll down to about 300 last month. However, that number has again risen above 800 this week. Also read: Journalists are 'wimps'; more likely to die of coronavirus, says Brazil's Bolsonaro Intensive care units at public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro are meanwhile 100 percent full, and preparations for an eventual vaccination campaign have been caught up in a political battle between Bolsonaro and a likely adversary in the 2022 presidential race, Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria. Bolsonaro has been at odds with health experts over how to respond to the pandemic. He has downplayed the new coronavirus as a "little flu," condemned the "hysteria" around it, and pushed to use the drug hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19, despite a raft of studies showing it is ineffective. Political tensions Doses of a COVID-19 vaccine made by China's Sinovac Biotech are rolling off a Brazilian production line, drawing interest around the country and across Latin America from governments struggling to procure costlier vaccines. Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria said at a news conference on Thursday (December 10) that the state's biomedical centre, the Butantan Institute, aims to fill and finish 1 million doses per day on its production line for a vaccination campaign to start Jan. 25. Doria said 11 Brazilian states have contacted Butantan seeking the doses of the vaccine, called CoronaVac, setting up a showdown with President Jair Bolsonaro, who has said he refuses to buy the Chinese vaccine for a national immunization program. At the same news conference, Butantan head Dimas Covas said several countries in the region, including Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay and Honduras are interested in buying the CoronaVac vaccine from Brazil. Butantan is in advanced talks with Argentina to the supply vaccine, he said. Dimas said CoronaVac doses would cost $10.30 to Brazilian states and cities outside of Sao Paulo, a fraction of what U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies are charging for COVID-19 vaccines. Butantan has begun to build a facility where it plans to produce the vaccine from scratch as of September 2021 instead of receiving it in bulk from China to fill and label vials. Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello has said that vaccinations could begin in January. Pressure has been mounting, with state governors criticising the federal government as unprepared for a mass immunisation campaign and failing to secure a diverse enough supply of vaccines. Pazuello repeated the ministry would buy any effective vaccines that are approved by health regulator Anvisa and reasonably priced, opening the door to a federal purchase of the Chinese vaccine.

Jair Bolsonaro says 'tail end' of pandemic in sight for Brazil

During talking to media reporters regarding the possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccine, President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro said that he should not be blamed for the consequences.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro says, "Don't blame me for the consequences of vaccine"

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged again over the past year, hitting a 12-year high, according to official figures released Monday that drew a chorus of condemnation of President Jair Bolsonaro's government.

A total of 11,088 square kilometers (4,281 square miles) of forest was destroyed in Brazil's share of the world's biggest rainforest in the 12 months to August, according to the Brazilian space agency's PRODES monitoring program, which analyzes satellite images to track deforestation.

That is equivalent to an area larger than Jamaica, and was a 9.5-per cent increase from the previous year, when deforestation also hit a more than decade-long high.

Also read|<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/losses-for-bolsonaro-wins-for-center-right-in-brazil-local-polls-346375">&nbsp;Losses for Bolsonaro, wins for center-right in Brazil local polls</a>

"Because of such deforestation, Brazil is probably the only major greenhouse gas emitter that managed to increase its emissions in the year the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the global economy," said the Brazilian Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups.

Forests such as the Amazon play a vital role in controlling climate change because they suck carbon from the atmosphere. However, when trees die or burn, they release their carbon back into the environment.

Bolsonaro, a far-right climate-change skeptic, has presided over rising deforestation and wildfires since taking office in January 2019.

His government is pushing to open protected lands to mining and agribusiness, and has slashed funding for environmental protection programs.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazilian-president-jair-bolsonaro-alleges-lot-of-fraud-in-us-election-2020-346316">Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro alleges 'lot of fraud' in US election 2020</a>

Environmentalists say those policies fuel the destruction of the Amazon, about 60 percent of which is in Brazil.

"The Bolsonaro government's vision of development for the Amazon is a throwback to the rampant deforestation of the past. It's a regressive vision that's far from the effort needed to deal with the climate crisis," Greenpeace spokeswoman Cristiane Mazzetti said in a statement.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who presented the figures in a press conference, defended the government's committment to fighting deforestation.

"The message I bring in the name of President Bolsonaro is that we will continue working with science and technology to support the work of environmental protection agencies," said Mourao, a retired army general who heads Bolsonaro's Amazon task force.

The latest annual deforestation figure was the highest since 2008, when 12,911 square kilometers of forest were destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged again over the past year, hitting a 12-year high, according to official figures released Monday that drew a chorus of condemnation of President Jair Bolsonaro's government.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged again over the past year, hitting a 12-year high, according to official figures released Monday that drew a chorus of condemnation of President Jair Bolsonaro's government. A total of 11,088 square kilometers (4,281 square miles) of forest was destroyed in Brazil's share of the world's biggest rainforest in the 12 months to August, according to the Brazilian space agency's PRODES monitoring program, which analyzes satellite images to track deforestation. That is equivalent to an area larger than Jamaica, and was a 9.5-per cent increase from the previous year, when deforestation also hit a more than decade-long high. Also read| Losses for Bolsonaro, wins for center-right in Brazil local polls "Because of such deforestation, Brazil is probably the only major greenhouse gas emitter that managed to increase its emissions in the year the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the global economy," said the Brazilian Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups. Forests such as the Amazon play a vital role in controlling climate change because they suck carbon from the atmosphere. However, when trees die or burn, they release their carbon back into the environment. Bolsonaro, a far-right climate-change skeptic, has presided over rising deforestation and wildfires since taking office in January 2019. His government is pushing to open protected lands to mining and agribusiness, and has slashed funding for environmental protection programs. Also read| Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro alleges 'lot of fraud' in US election 2020 Environmentalists say those policies fuel the destruction of the Amazon, about 60 percent of which is in Brazil. "The Bolsonaro government's vision of development for the Amazon is a throwback to the rampant deforestation of the past. It's a regressive vision that's far from the effort needed to deal with the climate crisis," Greenpeace spokeswoman Cristiane Mazzetti said in a statement. Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who presented the figures in a press conference, defended the government's committment to fighting deforestation. "The message I bring in the name of President Bolsonaro is that we will continue working with science and technology to support the work of environmental protection agencies," said Mourao, a retired army general who heads Bolsonaro's Amazon task force. The latest annual deforestation figure was the highest since 2008, when 12,911 square kilometers of forest were destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon.

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon skyrockets to 12-year high under Bolsonaro

Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's candidates suffered further defeats Sunday and the traditional center-right emerged stronger in municipal runoff elections seen as a gauge of where things stand in Brazilian politics ahead of presidential polls in 2022.

Brazil's biggest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, both elected experienced center-right mayors — incumbent Bruno Covas and returning veteran Eduardo Paes, respectively — as the candidates endorsed by Bolsonaro were roundly defeated, according to full official results.

The Brazilian left meanwhile continued to struggle to bounce back from the damaging impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff in 2016 and the jailing of her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on corruption charges — the events that paved the way for Bolsonaro's "conservative wave."

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazilian-president-jair-bolsonaro-alleges-lot-of-fraud-in-us-election-2020-346316">Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro alleges 'lot of fraud' in US election 2020</a>

The runoff elections "confirmed what we'd already seen in the first-round vote (on November 15): a defeat for Bolsonaro's camp," said political scientist Leonardo Avritzer of the Federal University of Minas Gerais.

"The left meanwhile continues to have enormous difficulties."

For the first time in its history, Lula's and Rousseff's Workers' Party (PT) failed to win a single mayoral race in Brazil's 26 state capitals.

Traditional parties to the center and right meanwhile consolidated the comeback they made in the first round, including Sao Paulo Mayor Covas's Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and Rio mayor-elect Paes's Democrats (DEM).

Bolsonaro, the politician known as the "Tropical Trump," will for his part have to work to bolster his position before his expected reelection bid, analysts said.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazil-elects-mayors-with-eyes-on-presidential-race-345767">Brazil elects mayors, with eyes on presidential race</a>

"Bolsonaro showed little political capacity as a leader," said political scientist Flavia Biroli of the University of Brasilia.

"The center-right and right came out as winners, but that is not the same as the Bolsonaro right," she told AFP.

Against 'politics of hate'

Covas and Paes both took aim at Bolsonaro in their victory speeches.

Covas, a 40-year-old cancer survivor tasked with handling one of the world's biggest coronavirus outbreaks, called his win a victory for "science and moderation."

That was seen as a veiled jab at Bolsonaro's polarizing style and controversial handling of Covid-19, which the president has downplayed as a "little flu" even as it has killed more than 172,000 people in Brazil, the second-highest death toll worldwide, after the United States.

Covas had to fend off what looked at times to be a tough challenge from leftist activist turned politician Guilherme Boulos, hailed by progressives as the new face of the Brazilian left.

However, the result was not close in the end: Covas won 59 per cent of the vote in Latin America's biggest city, to 41 per cent for Boulos.

The incumbent received warm congratulations from his predecessor and mentor, Sao Paulo state Governor Joao Doria, a top contender to challenge Bolsonaro for the presidency.

In Rio, Paes condemned the "politics of hate" associated with both Bolsonaro and the candidate the president backed, Evangelical pastor and incumbent Mayor Marcelo Crivella.

"The results of extremism, hate and division have been good for no one," said Paes, who was previously Rio mayor from 2009 to 2016.

Paes won with 64 per cent of the vote to 36 per cent for Crivella.

The other runoff candidate backed by Bolsonaro, police reserve captain Wagner Sousa Gomes, also lost in the northeastern city of Fortaleza.

Bolsonaro candidates routed

The municipal polls, which are essentially Brazil's midterm elections, bore the indelible mark of the pandemic.

The soaring death toll and the economic crisis that has ensued were central issues.

Brazil's 148 million voters were electing mayors and city councils in 5,569 municipalities, with runoffs held in 57 cities.

In other closely watched races, another rising left-wing star, Manuela D'Avila of the Communist Party of Brazil, lost to centrist candidate Sebastiao Melo in the southern city of Porto Alegre.

In the northeastern city of Recife, scene of a left-wing family feud pitting two cousins against each other, Joao Campos of the center-left Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) defeated Marilia Arraes of the PT.

Bolsonaro, who currently has no political party — but must choose one to stand in 2022 — meanwhile got bleak results for his candidates.

Just two of the 13 mayoral candidates he endorsed won, and nine of 45 city council candidates.

Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's candidates suffered further defeats Sunday and the traditional center-right emerged stronger in municipal runoff elections seen as a gauge of where things stand in Brazilian politics ahead of presidential polls in 2022.

Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's candidates suffered further defeats Sunday and the traditional center-right emerged stronger in municipal runoff elections seen as a gauge of where things stand in Brazilian politics ahead of presidential polls in 2022. Brazil's biggest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, both elected experienced center-right mayors — incumbent Bruno Covas and returning veteran Eduardo Paes, respectively — as the candidates endorsed by Bolsonaro were roundly defeated, according to full official results. The Brazilian left meanwhile continued to struggle to bounce back from the damaging impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff in 2016 and the jailing of her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on corruption charges — the events that paved the way for Bolsonaro's "conservative wave." Also read| Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro alleges 'lot of fraud' in US election 2020 The runoff elections "confirmed what we'd already seen in the first-round vote (on November 15): a defeat for Bolsonaro's camp," said political scientist Leonardo Avritzer of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. "The left meanwhile continues to have enormous difficulties." For the first time in its history, Lula's and Rousseff's Workers' Party (PT) failed to win a single mayoral race in Brazil's 26 state capitals. Traditional parties to the center and right meanwhile consolidated the comeback they made in the first round, including Sao Paulo Mayor Covas's Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and Rio mayor-elect Paes's Democrats (DEM). Bolsonaro, the politician known as the "Tropical Trump," will for his part have to work to bolster his position before his expected reelection bid, analysts said. Also read| Brazil elects mayors, with eyes on presidential race "Bolsonaro showed little political capacity as a leader," said political scientist Flavia Biroli of the University of Brasilia. "The center-right and right came out as winners, but that is not the same as the Bolsonaro right," she told AFP. Against 'politics of hate' Covas and Paes both took aim at Bolsonaro in their victory speeches. Covas, a 40-year-old cancer survivor tasked with handling one of the world's biggest coronavirus outbreaks, called his win a victory for "science and moderation." That was seen as a veiled jab at Bolsonaro's polarizing style and controversial handling of Covid-19, which the president has downplayed as a "little flu" even as it has killed more than 172,000 people in Brazil, the second-highest death toll worldwide, after the United States. Covas had to fend off what looked at times to be a tough challenge from leftist activist turned politician Guilherme Boulos, hailed by progressives as the new face of the Brazilian left. However, the result was not close in the end: Covas won 59 per cent of the vote in Latin America's biggest city, to 41 per cent for Boulos. The incumbent received warm congratulations from his predecessor and mentor, Sao Paulo state Governor Joao Doria, a top contender to challenge Bolsonaro for the presidency. In Rio, Paes condemned the "politics of hate" associated with both Bolsonaro and the candidate the president backed, Evangelical pastor and incumbent Mayor Marcelo Crivella. "The results of extremism, hate and division have been good for no one," said Paes, who was previously Rio mayor from 2009 to 2016. Paes won with 64 per cent of the vote to 36 per cent for Crivella. The other runoff candidate backed by Bolsonaro, police reserve captain Wagner Sousa Gomes, also lost in the northeastern city of Fortaleza. Bolsonaro candidates routed The municipal polls, which are essentially Brazil's midterm elections, bore the indelible mark of the pandemic. The soaring death toll and the economic crisis that has ensued were central issues. Brazil's 148 million voters were electing mayors and city councils in 5,569 municipalities, with runoffs held in 57 cities. In other closely watched races, another rising left-wing star, Manuela D'Avila of the Communist Party of Brazil, lost to centrist candidate Sebastiao Melo in the southern city of Porto Alegre. In the northeastern city of Recife, scene of a left-wing family feud pitting two cousins against each other, Joao Campos of the center-left Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) defeated Marilia Arraes of the PT. Bolsonaro, who currently has no political party — but must choose one to stand in 2022 — meanwhile got bleak results for his candidates. Just two of the 13 mayoral candidates he endorsed won, and nine of 45 city council candidates.

Losses for Bolsonaro, wins for center-right in Brazil local polls

Showing his true support and friendship towards the US outgoing president <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has alleged that there was "a lot of fraud"&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/us-election">US elections</a>.&nbsp;

The accusation was made by Bolsonaro on Sunday while he was talking to the reporters after casting a ballot in municipal races.&nbsp;

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dont-be-embarrassing-czech-president-asks-donald-trump-to-step-down-344233">'Don't be embarrassing': Czech President asks Donald Trump to step down</a>

"I have my sources of information that there really was a lot of fraud there," he said. "Nobody talks about that. If it was enough to define (victory) for one or the other, I don't know."

This statement by Bolsonaro has come after Donald Trump has refused to concede to the President-elect&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>'s historic win.&nbsp;The accusation made by Bolsonaro echoes Trump's campaign. The outgoing President has been alleging voter fraud from his opponent for the last few weeks now. Trump has been challenging the election result with various legal cases, the majority of which he lost. However, he has refused to give up and concede. "It's not like you're gonna change my mind. My mind will not change in six months," he recently said in an interview with a local national TV.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-still-refuses-to-budge-from-election-fraud-claims-346310">Donald Trump still refuses to budge from election fraud claims</a>

"This election was rigged. This election was a total fraud," he claimed, without providing any proof. "We won the election easily."

While many world leaders have come ahead and congratulated Biden, Bolsonaro said he will be waiting for a while before reaching out to the Democratic President-elect. "I am holding back a little more," he said.

Bolsonaro expressed his concern for the alleged US election voter fraud simply to support his argument against the electronic voting system that will be used in the 2022 Brazilian presidential elections. He has been urging leaders and people to go back to the paper ballot system for the 2022 elections, and now he has used Trump's allegations to further his own motives.

Donald Trump has not yet reacted to this rare support he has received from a world leader since the election results. He has been keeping off the grid since Biden's win was announced, and leaders flocked to congratulate him and his Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Trump's lawyers have been busy filing legal challenges against the election result in various states — leading to defeat in those too.

Showing his true support and friendship towards the US outgoing president Donald Trump, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has alleged that there was "a lot of fraud" in the US elections.

Showing his true support and friendship towards the US outgoing president Donald Trump, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has alleged that there was "a lot of fraud" in the US elections. The accusation was made by Bolsonaro on Sunday while he was talking to the reporters after casting a ballot in municipal races. Also read| 'Don't be embarrassing': Czech President asks Donald Trump to step down "I have my sources of information that there really was a lot of fraud there," he said. "Nobody talks about that. If it was enough to define (victory) for one or the other, I don't know." This statement by Bolsonaro has come after Donald Trump has refused to concede to the President-elect Joe Biden's historic win. The accusation made by Bolsonaro echoes Trump's campaign. The outgoing President has been alleging voter fraud from his opponent for the last few weeks now. Trump has been challenging the election result with various legal cases, the majority of which he lost. However, he has refused to give up and concede. "It's not like you're gonna change my mind. My mind will not change in six months," he recently said in an interview with a local national TV. Also read| Donald Trump still refuses to budge from election fraud claims "This election was rigged. This election was a total fraud," he claimed, without providing any proof. "We won the election easily." While many world leaders have come ahead and congratulated Biden, Bolsonaro said he will be waiting for a while before reaching out to the Democratic President-elect. "I am holding back a little more," he said. Bolsonaro expressed his concern for the alleged US election voter fraud simply to support his argument against the electronic voting system that will be used in the 2022 Brazilian presidential elections. He has been urging leaders and people to go back to the paper ballot system for the 2022 elections, and now he has used Trump's allegations to further his own motives. Donald Trump has not yet reacted to this rare support he has received from a world leader since the election results. He has been keeping off the grid since Biden's win was announced, and leaders flocked to congratulate him and his Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Trump's lawyers have been busy filing legal challenges against the election result in various states — leading to defeat in those too.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro alleges 'lot of fraud' in US election 2020

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has stoked up another controversy as he said on Thursday that he will not take <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus-vaccine">coronavirus vaccine</a>.&nbsp;

"I'm telling you, I'm not going to take it. It's my right," said Bolsonaro in statements that were broadcast live on several social media platforms.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/covid-19-pandemic-can-be-stopped-if-70-per-cent-of-public-wore-masks-consistently-study-345679">Covid-19 pandemic can be stopped if 70 per cent of public wore masks consistently: Study</a>

In October, the Brazilian president jokingly said that the vaccination would only be required by his dog.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/oxfordastrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine-to-undergo-new-global-trials-345677">Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to undergo new global trials</a>

Bolsonaro has been severely criticised for downplaying the pandemic that has caused the country to see the second-highest Covid-19 deaths in the world.&nbsp;

He himself has also contracted the infection months ago.&nbsp;

He also expressed scepticism of wearing masks to curb the infection, suggesting that there was little conclusive evidence to substantiate the claim.

Continually, Bolsonaro has told Brazilians that they would not be required to get vaccinated once the drug against Covid-19 would be available.&nbsp;

When the pandemic began to unravel, Bolsonaro called it a "little flu" and spoke against social distancing.&nbsp;

Bolsonaro has advocated for malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 constantly despite WHO clearly saying that it has no clinical benefit.&nbsp;

"Isn't it cheaper and easier to invest in a cure than a vaccine?" Bolsonaro had said.

"Look at me: I took hydroxychloroquine.... And it worked."

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has stoked up another controversy as he said on Thursday that he will not take coronavirus vaccine. "I'm telling you, I'm not going to take it.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has stoked up another controversy as he said on Thursday that he will not take coronavirus vaccine. "I'm telling you, I'm not going to take it. It's my right," said Bolsonaro in statements that were broadcast live on several social media platforms. Also read | Covid-19 pandemic can be stopped if 70 per cent of public wore masks consistently: Study In October, the Brazilian president jokingly said that the vaccination would only be required by his dog. Also read | Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to undergo new global trials Bolsonaro has been severely criticised for downplaying the pandemic that has caused the country to see the second-highest Covid-19 deaths in the world. He himself has also contracted the infection months ago. He also expressed scepticism of wearing masks to curb the infection, suggesting that there was little conclusive evidence to substantiate the claim. Continually, Bolsonaro has told Brazilians that they would not be required to get vaccinated once the drug against Covid-19 would be available. When the pandemic began to unravel, Bolsonaro called it a "little flu" and spoke against social distancing. Bolsonaro has advocated for malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 constantly despite WHO clearly saying that it has no clinical benefit. "Isn't it cheaper and easier to invest in a cure than a vaccine?" Bolsonaro had said. "Look at me: I took hydroxychloroquine.... And it worked."

'I'm not going to...': Brazil's Bolsonaro says he will not take Covid-19 vaccine

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was beaming on Wednesday after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin praised him a lot during BRICS summit, inviting a lot of jokes in the social media about the duo's "bromance".&nbsp;

"You were even infected personally by this disease, and withstood the ordeal with great courage," Putin said, according to the transcript shared by Bolsonaro on his official social media account.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/brics-umbrella-to-increase-india-russia-collaboration-on-artificial-intelligence-343831">BRICS umbrella to increase India, Russia collaboration on artificial intelligence</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

"I know that moment must not have been easy, but you faced it like a real man and showed the best qualities of masculinity, such as strength and willpower."&nbsp;

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- Palavras do Presidente da Rússia, Vladimir Putin, ao término do encontro do BRICS. 
 
. Link no YouTube: <a href="https://t.co/DR60KPr7CJ">https://t.co/DR60KPr7CJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/DmQ3SbLAML">pic.twitter.com/DmQ3SbLAML</a>
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1328831207753338881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/prepared-to-cooperate-with-india-on-vaccine-says-chinese-president-xi-jinping-at-brics-343724">Prepared to cooperate with India on vaccine, says Chinese President Xi Jinping at BRICS</a>

Other than sharing the speech, Bolsonaro also boasted of Putin's appreciation to a group of supporters present outside the presidential palace.&nbsp;

"Anyone see the Russian president's speech yesterday? Did anyone catch that?" the Brazilian president said.&nbsp;

The incident led to the sharing of a lot of memes via social media.&nbsp;

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Jair embraces the memes <a href="https://t.co/Rr0KYguCga">https://t.co/Rr0KYguCga</a>
— Fuminocchi 🇨🇷 (@Fuminodere) <a href="https://twitter.com/Fuminodere/status/1329195002929483776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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After praise from Putin, Bolsonaro is looking for a language school to learn to speak "I love you" in Russian.🤡
— Fabio Bocco Vilaça (@fabiovilaca) <a href="https://twitter.com/fabiovilaca/status/1329057808638218240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Great, Putin praises Bolsonaro and now watch Trump get Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 
Jealous that he does something else that is destructive, unthinkable, ludicrous, illegal and his supporters &amp; Republicans praise him PERIOD!
— Duchess Boyles (@DuchessBoyles) <a href="https://twitter.com/DuchessBoyles/status/1329206108364234752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Some people joked that Bolsonaro was apparently flirting with a new partner, referring to Putin post his "break up" with his political idol Donald Trump, after the latter was defeated in the presidential election.&nbsp;

Despite Putin's warm words, Bolsonaro has faced severe criticism for handling the coronavirus pandemic in the country that has killed over 166,000 people, second-highest globally.&nbsp;

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was beaming on Wednesday after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin praised him a lot during BRICS summit, inviting a lot of jokes in the social media about the duo's "bromance".

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was beaming on Wednesday after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin praised him a lot during BRICS summit, inviting a lot of jokes in the social media about the duo's "bromance". "You were even infected personally by this disease, and withstood the ordeal with great courage," Putin said, according to the transcript shared by Bolsonaro on his official social media account. Also read | BRICS umbrella to increase India, Russia collaboration on artificial intelligence "I know that moment must not have been easy, but you faced it like a real man and showed the best qualities of masculinity, such as strength and willpower." - Palavras do Presidente da Rússia, Vladimir Putin, ao término do encontro do BRICS. . Link no YouTube: https://t.co/DR60KPr7CJ pic.twitter.com/DmQ3SbLAML — Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) November 17, 2020 × Also read | Prepared to cooperate with India on vaccine, says Chinese President Xi Jinping at BRICS Other than sharing the speech, Bolsonaro also boasted of Putin's appreciation to a group of supporters present outside the presidential palace. "Anyone see the Russian president's speech yesterday? Did anyone catch that?" the Brazilian president said. The incident led to the sharing of a lot of memes via social media. Jair embraces the memes https://t.co/Rr0KYguCga — Fuminocchi 🇨🇷 (@Fuminodere) November 18, 2020 × After praise from Putin, Bolsonaro is looking for a language school to learn to speak "I love you" in Russian.🤡 — Fabio Bocco Vilaça (@fabiovilaca) November 18, 2020 × Great, Putin praises Bolsonaro and now watch Trump get Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Jealous that he does something else that is destructive, unthinkable, ludicrous, illegal and his supporters & Republicans praise him PERIOD! — Duchess Boyles (@DuchessBoyles) November 18, 2020 × Some people joked that Bolsonaro was apparently flirting with a new partner, referring to Putin post his "break up" with his political idol Donald Trump, after the latter was defeated in the presidential election. Despite Putin's warm words, Bolsonaro has faced severe criticism for handling the coronavirus pandemic in the country that has killed over 166,000 people, second-highest globally.

Social media floods with 'bromance' memes following Putin's praise of Bolsonaro's 'masculinity'

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sparked&nbsp;outrage and drew criticism over his homophobic outburst for telling Brazilians not to deal with Covid-19 like "a country of fags".

In his latest controversial statement, the&nbsp;far-right leader&nbsp;hit out at hysteria over the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that "all of us are going to die one day" and to "stop being a country of sissies".

Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-and-his-non-normal-antics-314020">Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and his 'non-normal' antics</a>

"All anyone talks about these days is the pandemic. We need to stop that," said Bolsonaro during the speech, which was ostensibly on tourism.

"I regret the deaths. I really do. But we're all going to die someday. There's no use fleeing reality. We have to stop being a country of fags.... We have to face up to it and fight. I hate this faggot stuff."

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazilian-mayor-asks-bolsonaro-to-resign-shut-up-and-stay-at-home-as-death-toll-mounts-300982">Brazilian mayor asks Bolsonaro to 'resign, shut up, and stay at home' as death toll mounts</a>

His comments triggered immediate outcry from critics.

"Between 'gunpowder' and 'fags,' we have more than 160,000 dead in the country," tweeted the speaker of the lower house of Congress, Rodrigo Maia.

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Entre pólvora, maricas e o risco à hiperinflação, temos mais de 160 mil mortos no país, uma economia frágil e um estado às escuras. Em nome da Câmara dos Deputados, reafirmo o nosso compromisso com a vacina, a independência dos órgãos reguladores e com a responsabilidade fiscal.
— Rodrigo Maia (@RodrigoMaia) <a href="https://twitter.com/RodrigoMaia/status/1326296648360800256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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"Our solidarity to all the friends and family of victims of Covid-19."

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E a todos os parentes e amigos de vítimas da covid-19 a nossa solidariedade.
— Rodrigo Maia (@RodrigoMaia) <a href="https://twitter.com/RodrigoMaia/status/1326296649958907907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Bolsonaro is a longstanding enemy of Brazil’s LGBTQ+ community and during three decades in politics has made no secret of his homophobia.

Bolsonaro has consistently downplayed the virus comparing&nbsp;the new coronavirus to a "little flu" and asserted that Brazilians' immune systems were so strong they could swim in raw sewage and "not catch a thing."

Brazil&nbsp;reported 25,012 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 201 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The South American country has registered 5,700,044 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 162,829, according to ministry data. It is the world's second most fatal outbreak after the United States.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sparked outrage and drew criticism over his homophobic outburst for telling Brazilians not to deal with Covid-19 like "a country of fags".

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sparked outrage and drew criticism over his homophobic outburst for telling Brazilians not to deal with Covid-19 like "a country of fags". In his latest controversial statement, the far-right leader hit out at hysteria over the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that "all of us are going to die one day" and to "stop being a country of sissies". Also see: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and his 'non-normal' antics "All anyone talks about these days is the pandemic. We need to stop that," said Bolsonaro during the speech, which was ostensibly on tourism. "I regret the deaths. I really do. But we're all going to die someday. There's no use fleeing reality. We have to stop being a country of fags.... We have to face up to it and fight. I hate this faggot stuff." Also read: Brazilian mayor asks Bolsonaro to 'resign, shut up, and stay at home' as death toll mounts His comments triggered immediate outcry from critics. "Between 'gunpowder' and 'fags,' we have more than 160,000 dead in the country," tweeted the speaker of the lower house of Congress, Rodrigo Maia. Entre pólvora, maricas e o risco à hiperinflação, temos mais de 160 mil mortos no país, uma economia frágil e um estado às escuras. Em nome da Câmara dos Deputados, reafirmo o nosso compromisso com a vacina, a independência dos órgãos reguladores e com a responsabilidade fiscal. — Rodrigo Maia (@RodrigoMaia) November 10, 2020 × "Our solidarity to all the friends and family of victims of Covid-19." E a todos os parentes e amigos de vítimas da covid-19 a nossa solidariedade. — Rodrigo Maia (@RodrigoMaia) November 10, 2020 × Bolsonaro is a longstanding enemy of Brazil’s LGBTQ+ community and during three decades in politics has made no secret of his homophobia. Bolsonaro has consistently downplayed the virus comparing the new coronavirus to a "little flu" and asserted that Brazilians' immune systems were so strong they could swim in raw sewage and "not catch a thing." Brazil reported 25,012 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 201 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The South American country has registered 5,700,044 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 162,829, according to ministry data. It is the world's second most fatal outbreak after the United States.

Brazilian President Bolsonaro sparks outrage over his homophobic statement

Brazil halted a late-stage trial of a Chinese vaccine on Monday. The decision provoked a political firestorm on Tuesday after President Jair Bolsonaro, called the suspension a political victory.

Your Story: Critics see politics in Brazil’s halt of Chinese vaccine trial

Biden's victory is a loss for the man known as the "Tropical Trump," Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose fervent endorsement of the Republican incumbent leaves him isolated abroad and vulnerable at home, analysts say.

As congratulations from world leaders for Biden poured in Saturday, Bolsonaro's silence spoke volumes.

Elected in 2018 and up for reelection himself in 2022, Bolsonaro modeled his political rise on Trump's, and openly admires him.

Known for their shared knack for social media rants and riling up their conservative bases, he and Trump are two of the most visible faces of the new brand of right-wing populist politics that surged onto the world scene four years ago.

Bolsonaro, a 65-year-old former army captain, has actively promoted the comparison.

He has sought to cultivate a close relationship with Trump, to the point of breaking with Brazilian diplomatic tradition and openly endorsing the Republican billionaire's reelection bid.

True to the confrontational style he and Trump share, Bolsonaro also clashed with Biden during the presidential race.

When Biden said during his first debate with Trump that the United States needed to push Brazil to better protect the Amazon rainforest, Bolsonaro called the statement "disastrous."

"What a shame, Mr John Biden!" he said, mistaking the former vice president's first name in the English version of his tweet.

All that could make for an awkward relationship with the Biden administration.

Biden is particularly concerned with the fight against global warming, a touchy subject for Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic who has presided over a surge in deforestation and wildfires in the Amazon.

Trump's loss also leaves Bolsonaro -- now arguably the most visible face of the new right worldwide -- more exposed to international criticism and pressure.

"Trump's loss weakens Bolsonaro. It makes him look more isolated," said Brian Winter, vice president of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas.

"It means more negative attention on Bolsonaro, who will suddenly become the face of a certain brand of right wing politics. It will call more attention to his actions in the Amazon.

"In a nutshell, there's a chance that Bolsonaro becomes the world's bogeyman for a certain portion of global opinion."

And while Bolsonaro may not care what Biden or the rest of the world think of his administration, there are key players in Brazil that do.

"To a lot of Brazilian companies, (the risk) is very clear. If Brazil becomes a pariah... that's bad for business, in a country that cannot afford to be losing clients, given where the economy is," Winter told AFP, referring to forecasts that coronavirus-battered Brazil faces a record recession this year.

- 'Can't help himself'&nbsp;-

Bolsonaro proudly claims to have brought Brazil's relations with the United States, its second-biggest trading partner after China, closer than any time in recent history.

So why risk a rocky relationship with the next US president?

"There's not a lot of strategy there. It's more like he can't help himself. He feels the need to demonstrate this constant support for Trump," said Cristina Pecequilo, a professor of international relations at the Federal University of Sao Paulo.

"It's about the personal dynamic between Bolsonaro and Trump" -- though Bolsonaro's Trump fandom sometimes looks unreciprocated, she added.

Bolsonaro will likely have to seek a relationship of pragmatic cordiality with the Biden administration, said Paulo Sotero of the Brazil Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.

"It will take a lot of work to establish dialogue," he said.

"He should clearly move fast to change some key personnel," notably controversial Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, he added.

The Biden administration will for its part have an interest in keeping Brazil as a partner, on issues ranging from the environment to Venezuela to China.

And although the hashtag #BolsonaroIsNext was trending on Twitter in Brazil after Trump's loss, it would be a mistake to underestimate Bolsonaro's strength at home.

His poll numbers are strong. And having emulated Trump's rise, he no longer needs the "air of legitimacy" the US president gave him, said Winter.

"One of the lessons likely to come out of 2020 is that just because Trump lost, that brand of politics is not going to go away," he said.

Biden's victory is a loss for the man known as the "Tropical Trump," Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose fervent endorsement of the Republican incumbent leaves him isolated abroad and vulnerable at home, analysts say.

Biden's victory is a loss for the man known as the "Tropical Trump," Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose fervent endorsement of the Republican incumbent leaves him isolated abroad and vulnerable at home, analysts say. As congratulations from world leaders for Biden poured in Saturday, Bolsonaro's silence spoke volumes. Elected in 2018 and up for reelection himself in 2022, Bolsonaro modeled his political rise on Trump's, and openly admires him. Known for their shared knack for social media rants and riling up their conservative bases, he and Trump are two of the most visible faces of the new brand of right-wing populist politics that surged onto the world scene four years ago. Bolsonaro, a 65-year-old former army captain, has actively promoted the comparison. He has sought to cultivate a close relationship with Trump, to the point of breaking with Brazilian diplomatic tradition and openly endorsing the Republican billionaire's reelection bid. True to the confrontational style he and Trump share, Bolsonaro also clashed with Biden during the presidential race. When Biden said during his first debate with Trump that the United States needed to push Brazil to better protect the Amazon rainforest, Bolsonaro called the statement "disastrous." "What a shame, Mr John Biden!" he said, mistaking the former vice president's first name in the English version of his tweet. All that could make for an awkward relationship with the Biden administration. Biden is particularly concerned with the fight against global warming, a touchy subject for Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic who has presided over a surge in deforestation and wildfires in the Amazon. Trump's loss also leaves Bolsonaro -- now arguably the most visible face of the new right worldwide -- more exposed to international criticism and pressure. "Trump's loss weakens Bolsonaro. It makes him look more isolated," said Brian Winter, vice president of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. "It means more negative attention on Bolsonaro, who will suddenly become the face of a certain brand of right wing politics. It will call more attention to his actions in the Amazon. "In a nutshell, there's a chance that Bolsonaro becomes the world's bogeyman for a certain portion of global opinion." And while Bolsonaro may not care what Biden or the rest of the world think of his administration, there are key players in Brazil that do. "To a lot of Brazilian companies, (the risk) is very clear. If Brazil becomes a pariah... that's bad for business, in a country that cannot afford to be losing clients, given where the economy is," Winter told AFP, referring to forecasts that coronavirus-battered Brazil faces a record recession this year. - 'Can't help himself' - Bolsonaro proudly claims to have brought Brazil's relations with the United States, its second-biggest trading partner after China, closer than any time in recent history. So why risk a rocky relationship with the next US president? "There's not a lot of strategy there. It's more like he can't help himself. He feels the need to demonstrate this constant support for Trump," said Cristina Pecequilo, a professor of international relations at the Federal University of Sao Paulo. "It's about the personal dynamic between Bolsonaro and Trump" -- though Bolsonaro's Trump fandom sometimes looks unreciprocated, she added. Bolsonaro will likely have to seek a relationship of pragmatic cordiality with the Biden administration, said Paulo Sotero of the Brazil Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. "It will take a lot of work to establish dialogue," he said. "He should clearly move fast to change some key personnel," notably controversial Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, he added. The Biden administration will for its part have an interest in keeping Brazil as a partner, on issues ranging from the environment to Venezuela to China. And although the hashtag #BolsonaroIsNext was trending on Twitter in Brazil after Trump's loss, it would be a mistake to underestimate Bolsonaro's strength at home. His poll numbers are strong. And having emulated Trump's rise, he no longer needs the "air of legitimacy" the US president gave him, said Winter. "One of the lessons likely to come out of 2020 is that just because Trump lost, that brand of politics is not going to go away," he said.

Is Biden win a loss for Brazil's 'Tropical Trump'?

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday declared his support for US President Donald Trump and said he hoped that Trump won US presidential election 2020. Bolsonaro, who has been dubbed 'tropical Trump' has cultivated a close relationship with the Republican president and has not been shy about endorsing his bid for reelection. As he supported Trump, Jair Bolsonaro lashed out at Democratic nominee Joe Biden

"You know where I stand, I've been clear. I have a good relationship with Trump. I hope he'll be reelected," Bolsonaro told supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia.

Bolsonaro denied backing Trump amounted to interference in US election process.

"Who are we to interfere anyway?" he asked.

"How do you want me to interfere? Economically? Militarily? A cyber attack?" he joked.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-donald-trump-criticises-surprise-ballot-dumps-for-lagging-behind-joe-biden-340569">US election 2020: Donald Trump criticises 'surprise ballot dumps' for lagging behind Joe Biden</a>

Bolsonaro, a far-right leader has received global condemnation for presiding over surge deforestation and wildfires since taking office in 2019. Biden has criticised Bolsonaro's approach in past.

"If you don't, then you're going to have significant economic consequences," Biden had said.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro lashed out at Biden for his 'interference' in Brazilian affairs.

"The Democratic candidate has spoken twice about the Amazon. Is that what you want for Brazil? Now that's what I call interference," he said.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday declared his support for US President Donald Trump and said he hoped that Trump won US presidential election 2020.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday declared his support for US President Donald Trump and said he hoped that Trump won US presidential election 2020. Bolsonaro, who has been dubbed 'tropical Trump' has cultivated a close relationship with the Republican president and has not been shy about endorsing his bid for reelection. As he supported Trump, Jair Bolsonaro lashed out at Democratic nominee Joe Biden "You know where I stand, I've been clear. I have a good relationship with Trump. I hope he'll be reelected," Bolsonaro told supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia. Bolsonaro denied backing Trump amounted to interference in US election process. "Who are we to interfere anyway?" he asked. "How do you want me to interfere? Economically? Militarily? A cyber attack?" he joked. Also Read | US election 2020: Donald Trump criticises 'surprise ballot dumps' for lagging behind Joe Biden Bolsonaro, a far-right leader has received global condemnation for presiding over surge deforestation and wildfires since taking office in 2019. Biden has criticised Bolsonaro's approach in past. "If you don't, then you're going to have significant economic consequences," Biden had said. On Wednesday, Bolsonaro lashed out at Biden for his 'interference' in Brazilian affairs. "The Democratic candidate has spoken twice about the Amazon. Is that what you want for Brazil? Now that's what I call interference," he said.

I hope Trump wins, says Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro

State prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro said late on Tuesday they have formally pressed charges against Flavio&nbsp;Bolsonaro, President Jair&nbsp;Bolsonaro's eldest son, over his alleged participation in a scheme to siphon off public funds.

The charges are the first to be brought in a series of investigations involving the president's family and could prove damaging for the far-right leader, who ran on an anti-corruption platform.

Rio state prosecutors accuse Flavio Bolsonaro, 39, of embezzlement, money laundering and operating a criminal enterprise from 2007 to 2018.

His former driver and fixer, Fabricio Queiroz, is also accused in the alleged scheme.

Queiroz, a former police officer, was arrested in June, leading to speculation he could cut a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for information on his former boss' role.

Fifteen other people are also accused.

"I did nothing illegal. The Rio state prosecutor's office made a series of strange mistakes in its 'accusation,' which just happens to come on the eve of local elections" on November 15, Flavio Bolsonaro wrote on Instagram.

"I don't even think (the court) will accept the charges."

The case began in 2018, when auditors identified a series of unusual transfers to an account held by Queiroz for a total of 1.2 million reais (around $375,000 at the time).

Investigators say they detected a scheme commonly known in Brazil as "rachadinha," in which politicians pack their public payrolls with fake staff and pocket or otherwise divert part of the money.

Prosecutors accuse Flavio Bolsonaro, who was elected to the Senate in the same election that swept his father to power in 2018,&nbsp;of embezzling 2.7 million reais in all.

He denies the accusations and says he is the victim of "political persecution."

The case drew intense scrutiny when reports emerged in August that First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro had received 21 unexplained bank deposits from Queiroz from 2011 to 2016.

Asked about those allegations by a journalist, the president replied, "I so want to pound your mouth with punches."

State prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro said late on Tuesday they have formally pressed charges against Flavio Bolsonaro, President Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, over his alleged participation in a scheme to siphon off public funds.

State prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro said late on Tuesday they have formally pressed charges against Flavio Bolsonaro, President Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, over his alleged participation in a scheme to siphon off public funds. The charges are the first to be brought in a series of investigations involving the president's family and could prove damaging for the far-right leader, who ran on an anti-corruption platform. Rio state prosecutors accuse Flavio Bolsonaro, 39, of embezzlement, money laundering and operating a criminal enterprise from 2007 to 2018. His former driver and fixer, Fabricio Queiroz, is also accused in the alleged scheme. Queiroz, a former police officer, was arrested in June, leading to speculation he could cut a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for information on his former boss' role. Fifteen other people are also accused. "I did nothing illegal. The Rio state prosecutor's office made a series of strange mistakes in its 'accusation,' which just happens to come on the eve of local elections" on November 15, Flavio Bolsonaro wrote on Instagram. "I don't even think (the court) will accept the charges." The case began in 2018, when auditors identified a series of unusual transfers to an account held by Queiroz for a total of 1.2 million reais (around $375,000 at the time). Investigators say they detected a scheme commonly known in Brazil as "rachadinha," in which politicians pack their public payrolls with fake staff and pocket or otherwise divert part of the money. Prosecutors accuse Flavio Bolsonaro, who was elected to the Senate in the same election that swept his father to power in 2018, of embezzling 2.7 million reais in all. He denies the accusations and says he is the victim of "political persecution." The case drew intense scrutiny when reports emerged in August that First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro had received 21 unexplained bank deposits from Queiroz from 2011 to 2016. Asked about those allegations by a journalist, the president replied, "I so want to pound your mouth with punches."

Brazilian President Bolsonaro's son charged over corruption scheme

The coronavirus was gathering lethal speed when President Donald Trump met his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, on March 7 for dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Bolsonaro had canceled trips that week to Italy, Poland and Hungary, and Brazil’s health minister had urged him to stay away from Florida, too.

But Bolsonaro insisted, eager to burnish his image as the “Trump of the Tropics.” His grinning aides posed at the president’s resort in green “Make Brazil Great Again” hats. Trump declared he was “not concerned at all” before walking Bolsonaro around the club shaking hands.

Twenty-two people in Bolsonaro’s delegation tested positive for the virus after returning to Brazil, yet he was not alarmed. Trump had shared a cure, Bolsonaro told advisers: a box of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, the unproven treatment that Trump was then promoting as a remedy for COVID-19.

“He said the trip was wonderful, that they had a great time, that life was normal at Mar-a-Lago, everything was cured, and that hydroxychloroquine was the medicine that was supposed to be used,” recalled the health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who was fired by Bolsonaro the next month for opposing reliance on the drug.

“From that time on, it was very hard to get him to take the science seriously.”

The Mar-a-Lago dinner, which would become infamous for spreading infection, cemented a partnership between Trump and Bolsonaro rooted in a shared disregard for the virus. But even before the dinner, the two presidents had waged an ideological campaign that would undermine Latin America’s ability to respond to COVID-19.

Together, the two men, fierce opponents of Latin America’s leftists, took aim at Cuba’s great pride: the doctors it sends around the world. Trump and Bolsonaro drove 10,000 Cuban doctors and nurses out of impoverished areas of Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador. Many left without being replaced only months before the pandemic arrived.

Then, the two leaders attacked the international agency most capable of fighting the virus — the Pan-American Health Organization, or PAHO — citing its involvement with the Cuban medical program. With help from Bolsonaro, Trump nearly bankrupted the agency by withholding promised funding at the height of the outbreak, to an extent not previously disclosed.

And with help from Trump, Bolsonaro has made hydroxychloroquine the centerpiece of Brazil’s pandemic response, despite a medical consensus that the drug is ineffective and even dangerous. The Food and Drug Administration warned last April against most uses of the drug to treat COVID-19. A month later, Trump announced after a phone call with Bolsonaro that the United States would send Brazil 2 million doses.

Weak health systems and overcrowded cities made Latin America inherently vulnerable. But by driving out doctors, blocking assistance, and pushing false cures, Trump and Bolsonaro made a bad situation worse, dismantling defenses.

Now Latin America, with a third of the world’s deaths, has suffered more acutely from COVID-19 than any other region.

The two most powerful leaders in the Americas, Trump and Bolsonaro are both ardent nationalists defiant of mainstream science. Both have put economic growth and short-term politics ahead of public health warnings. Both are deeply hostile to the region’s leftist governments — especially in Cuba, a cause that helps Trump with Cuban American voters in the swing state of Florida.

“In their zeal to get rid of the Cuban doctors, the Trump administration has punished every country in the hemisphere, and without question that has meant more COVID cases, and more COVID deaths,” said Mark L. Schneider, a former head of strategic planning for PAHO who was a State Department official in the Clinton administration. “It is outrageous.”

Smaller, less powerful countries like Ecuador felt the pain. Ecuador acceded to U.S. pressure and sent home nearly 400 Cuban health care workers shortly before the pandemic. Then the country also suffered from the Trump administration’s freeze on funding for the health organization, which hampered its ability to provide emergency supplies and technical support.

“No one from the Pan-American Health Organization was here, and we felt their absence,” said Dr. Washington Alemán, a senior infectious disease specialist and a former deputy health minister in Ecuador, who diagnosed the country’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. “The support was not like it used to be in previous years, in previous epidemics.”

Previous Republican and Democratic administrations have almost all regarded the public health of Latin America as of urgent national interest, because infectious diseases can spread easily between South and North America.

‘Bread From Heaven’

Jair Bolsonaro roared into power in Brazil in October 2018, styling himself as a Trumpian populist, speaking favorably of “dictatorship,” and accusing his country’s left-leaning establishment of taking lessons from communist Cuba. He promised to expel more than 8,000 Cuban medical workers.

A predecessor had invited the Cubans five years earlier to help care for more than 60 million people, mostly in small communities in the Amazon basin, many of whom had never before seen a doctor. Academic studies reported high levels of patient satisfaction and reduced infant mortality rates. PAHO oversaw the Cuban doctors in Brazil and promoted their work as a model; the Obama administration raised no objection.

For decades, Cuba has sent medical workers to fill holes in health systems in Latin America and beyond. Cuba paid the doctors as much as $900 a month compared with the $50 a month they might earn at home. But Havana charged their host governments much more — about $4,300 a month for each doctor in Brazil — and pocketed the difference. Cuba called the program humanitarian; critics, noting that Cuba limited the freedom of the doctors, called it forced labor and human trafficking.

During Bolsonaro’s fiery election campaign, a newspaper disclosed 6-year-old diplomatic cables suggesting that Brazilian officials had routed payments for the program through the health organization in part to avoid a debate in the Brazilian Congress over dealing with Cuba.

Bolsonaro accused the health organization of abetting “modern-day slavery” and vowed to get rid of the doctors. Cuba recalled them even before he was sworn in.

Roughly 6,500 miles away, in Miami, Tony Costa saw a rare opportunity.

An 80-year-old veteran of the aborted Bay of Pigs invasion, Costa has spent decades working to topple the communist leadership in Havana. When he connected the allegations of Cuban forced labor with the Washington-based PAHO, he knew he had something that would captivate Congress and the White House.

“This is like bread from heaven!” he recalled thinking.

Costa soon discovered Ramona Matos Rodríguez, a Cuban doctor who had defected to Miami from a mission to Brazil, and helped her become the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing PAHO of forced labor and human trafficking.

In a court filing, lawyers for the organization said the allegations were “grossly inaccurate” and “bear almost no resemblance to reality.” Experts say the lawsuit is at best a long shot, but, in politics, it made an impact.

Citing the accusations, the State Department pressured Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador until they expelled more than 1,000 Cuban medical workers last year.

But the bigger blows hit the Pan-American Health Organization.

The Trump administration focused intensely on the organization’s ties to Cuba, even though its involvement with the Cuban doctors had ended about a year earlier, when they left Brazil. The U.S. stopped paying its annual dues of $110 million, more than half the agency’s core budget. Bolsonaro’s government also froze payment of its $24 million in dues.

By the end of 2019, the agency faced a funding crisis. It had sharply reduced international travel, frozen hiring and cut contracts for the medical consultants who do most of its hands-on work.

Within six weeks, COVID-19 began seeping into Latin America.

Bodies on the Streets

Perched on Ecuador’s southern coast, Guayaquil is a busy port city surrounded by hillsides covered in slums.

Bella Lamilla, 70, arrived from Spain on Feb. 15, to visit her nearby birthplace. But while there, she developed pneumonia.

Ecuador had no labs with the supplies or capacity to test for the coronavirus, but Lamilla’s family happened to take her to a private clinic that employs Alemán, the former deputy health minister. He used his contacts to get a sample sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

She became Ecuador’s first confirmed case on the night of Feb. 29. Within two weeks, every intensive care unit in the city was overwhelmed.

Doctors in Guayaquil say that more hands-on advice from PAHO might have helped detect the virus much sooner, before it had penetrated the city so deeply.

More direct support from PAHO consultants “could have prevented not only that mistake but many others,” Alemán said.

During past disease outbreaks, local doctors credit PAHO with procuring supplies or rushing in skilled consultants to provide face-to-face technical help to laboratories and hospitals.

The agency’s officials say that this time they faced special challenges. Testing materials and protective equipment became scarce globally. By late March, shutdowns of commercial air travel made it difficult to deploy experts.

But the funding crisis caused by Trump’s freeze also loomed large, even as leaders tried to compensate by shifting resources to prioritize COVID-19 response.

The forced departure of 400 Cuban medical workers from the country did not help, either. At the Martha de Roldós Health Center on the outskirts of Guayaquil, the director, Hugo Duarte, said two Cubans had to leave months before the pandemic.

Ecuadorean doctors would have been just as good, he said, if the Health Ministry had paid enough to fill the vacancies. But the loss had strained the clinic, especially when he was sickened for weeks.

“People were falling dead on the sidewalk, just outside the health center,” Duarte said.

Dubious Medical Advice

As the epidemic was exploding in Ecuador, Bolsonaro returned to Brazil from Mar-a-Lago. He quickly summoned Nise Yamaguchi, a São Paulo oncologist who had become a prominent champion of hydroxychloroquine.

Yamaguchi told the president that the outbreak left no time for the kind of clinical trials other doctors were waiting for.

Brazil had been known for one of the strongest public health systems in Latin America for fighting infectious diseases. But when two health ministers refused to support the drug, Bolsonaro replaced them with a loyal military officer, while Yamaguchi became his most trusted adviser.

Ignoring a medical consensus, Brazil’s Health Ministry still provides free hydroxychloroquine to anyone with COVID-19. And critics say Bolsonaro’s promotion of the drug, coupled with his refusal to wear a mask or socially distance, has undermined public health.

Brazil has suffered more than 157,000 deaths from COVID-19, a total second only to the United States.

The coronavirus was gathering lethal speed when President Donald Trump met his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, on March 7 for dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Bolsonaro had canceled trips that week to Italy, Poland and Hungary, and Brazil’s health minister had urged him to stay away from Florida, too.

The coronavirus was gathering lethal speed when President Donald Trump met his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, on March 7 for dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Bolsonaro had canceled trips that week to Italy, Poland and Hungary, and Brazil’s health minister had urged him to stay away from Florida, too. But Bolsonaro insisted, eager to burnish his image as the “Trump of the Tropics.” His grinning aides posed at the president’s resort in green “Make Brazil Great Again” hats. Trump declared he was “not concerned at all” before walking Bolsonaro around the club shaking hands. Twenty-two people in Bolsonaro’s delegation tested positive for the virus after returning to Brazil, yet he was not alarmed. Trump had shared a cure, Bolsonaro told advisers: a box of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, the unproven treatment that Trump was then promoting as a remedy for COVID-19. “He said the trip was wonderful, that they had a great time, that life was normal at Mar-a-Lago, everything was cured, and that hydroxychloroquine was the medicine that was supposed to be used,” recalled the health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who was fired by Bolsonaro the next month for opposing reliance on the drug. “From that time on, it was very hard to get him to take the science seriously.” The Mar-a-Lago dinner, which would become infamous for spreading infection, cemented a partnership between Trump and Bolsonaro rooted in a shared disregard for the virus. But even before the dinner, the two presidents had waged an ideological campaign that would undermine Latin America’s ability to respond to COVID-19. Together, the two men, fierce opponents of Latin America’s leftists, took aim at Cuba’s great pride: the doctors it sends around the world. Trump and Bolsonaro drove 10,000 Cuban doctors and nurses out of impoverished areas of Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador. Many left without being replaced only months before the pandemic arrived. Then, the two leaders attacked the international agency most capable of fighting the virus — the Pan-American Health Organization, or PAHO — citing its involvement with the Cuban medical program. With help from Bolsonaro, Trump nearly bankrupted the agency by withholding promised funding at the height of the outbreak, to an extent not previously disclosed. And with help from Trump, Bolsonaro has made hydroxychloroquine the centerpiece of Brazil’s pandemic response, despite a medical consensus that the drug is ineffective and even dangerous. The Food and Drug Administration warned last April against most uses of the drug to treat COVID-19. A month later, Trump announced after a phone call with Bolsonaro that the United States would send Brazil 2 million doses. Weak health systems and overcrowded cities made Latin America inherently vulnerable. But by driving out doctors, blocking assistance, and pushing false cures, Trump and Bolsonaro made a bad situation worse, dismantling defenses. Now Latin America, with a third of the world’s deaths, has suffered more acutely from COVID-19 than any other region. The two most powerful leaders in the Americas, Trump and Bolsonaro are both ardent nationalists defiant of mainstream science. Both have put economic growth and short-term politics ahead of public health warnings. Both are deeply hostile to the region’s leftist governments — especially in Cuba, a cause that helps Trump with Cuban American voters in the swing state of Florida. “In their zeal to get rid of the Cuban doctors, the Trump administration has punished every country in the hemisphere, and without question that has meant more COVID cases, and more COVID deaths,” said Mark L. Schneider, a former head of strategic planning for PAHO who was a State Department official in the Clinton administration. “It is outrageous.” Smaller, less powerful countries like Ecuador felt the pain. Ecuador acceded to U.S. pressure and sent home nearly 400 Cuban health care workers shortly before the pandemic. Then the country also suffered from the Trump administration’s freeze on funding for the health organization, which hampered its ability to provide emergency supplies and technical support. “No one from the Pan-American Health Organization was here, and we felt their absence,” said Dr. Washington Alemán, a senior infectious disease specialist and a former deputy health minister in Ecuador, who diagnosed the country’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. “The support was not like it used to be in previous years, in previous epidemics.” Previous Republican and Democratic administrations have almost all regarded the public health of Latin America as of urgent national interest, because infectious diseases can spread easily between South and North America. ‘Bread From Heaven’ Jair Bolsonaro roared into power in Brazil in October 2018, styling himself as a Trumpian populist, speaking favorably of “dictatorship,” and accusing his country’s left-leaning establishment of taking lessons from communist Cuba. He promised to expel more than 8,000 Cuban medical workers. A predecessor had invited the Cubans five years earlier to help care for more than 60 million people, mostly in small communities in the Amazon basin, many of whom had never before seen a doctor. Academic studies reported high levels of patient satisfaction and reduced infant mortality rates. PAHO oversaw the Cuban doctors in Brazil and promoted their work as a model; the Obama administration raised no objection. For decades, Cuba has sent medical workers to fill holes in health systems in Latin America and beyond. Cuba paid the doctors as much as $900 a month compared with the $50 a month they might earn at home. But Havana charged their host governments much more — about $4,300 a month for each doctor in Brazil — and pocketed the difference. Cuba called the program humanitarian; critics, noting that Cuba limited the freedom of the doctors, called it forced labor and human trafficking. During Bolsonaro’s fiery election campaign, a newspaper disclosed 6-year-old diplomatic cables suggesting that Brazilian officials had routed payments for the program through the health organization in part to avoid a debate in the Brazilian Congress over dealing with Cuba. Bolsonaro accused the health organization of abetting “modern-day slavery” and vowed to get rid of the doctors. Cuba recalled them even before he was sworn in. Roughly 6,500 miles away, in Miami, Tony Costa saw a rare opportunity. An 80-year-old veteran of the aborted Bay of Pigs invasion, Costa has spent decades working to topple the communist leadership in Havana. When he connected the allegations of Cuban forced labor with the Washington-based PAHO, he knew he had something that would captivate Congress and the White House. “This is like bread from heaven!” he recalled thinking. Costa soon discovered Ramona Matos Rodríguez, a Cuban doctor who had defected to Miami from a mission to Brazil, and helped her become the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing PAHO of forced labor and human trafficking. In a court filing, lawyers for the organization said the allegations were “grossly inaccurate” and “bear almost no resemblance to reality.” Experts say the lawsuit is at best a long shot, but, in politics, it made an impact. Citing the accusations, the State Department pressured Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador until they expelled more than 1,000 Cuban medical workers last year. But the bigger blows hit the Pan-American Health Organization. The Trump administration focused intensely on the organization’s ties to Cuba, even though its involvement with the Cuban doctors had ended about a year earlier, when they left Brazil. The U.S. stopped paying its annual dues of $110 million, more than half the agency’s core budget. Bolsonaro’s government also froze payment of its $24 million in dues. By the end of 2019, the agency faced a funding crisis. It had sharply reduced international travel, frozen hiring and cut contracts for the medical consultants who do most of its hands-on work. Within six weeks, COVID-19 began seeping into Latin America. Bodies on the Streets Perched on Ecuador’s southern coast, Guayaquil is a busy port city surrounded by hillsides covered in slums. Bella Lamilla, 70, arrived from Spain on Feb. 15, to visit her nearby birthplace. But while there, she developed pneumonia. Ecuador had no labs with the supplies or capacity to test for the coronavirus, but Lamilla’s family happened to take her to a private clinic that employs Alemán, the former deputy health minister. He used his contacts to get a sample sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. She became Ecuador’s first confirmed case on the night of Feb. 29. Within two weeks, every intensive care unit in the city was overwhelmed. Doctors in Guayaquil say that more hands-on advice from PAHO might have helped detect the virus much sooner, before it had penetrated the city so deeply. More direct support from PAHO consultants “could have prevented not only that mistake but many others,” Alemán said. During past disease outbreaks, local doctors credit PAHO with procuring supplies or rushing in skilled consultants to provide face-to-face technical help to laboratories and hospitals. The agency’s officials say that this time they faced special challenges. Testing materials and protective equipment became scarce globally. By late March, shutdowns of commercial air travel made it difficult to deploy experts. But the funding crisis caused by Trump’s freeze also loomed large, even as leaders tried to compensate by shifting resources to prioritize COVID-19 response. The forced departure of 400 Cuban medical workers from the country did not help, either. At the Martha de Roldós Health Center on the outskirts of Guayaquil, the director, Hugo Duarte, said two Cubans had to leave months before the pandemic. Ecuadorean doctors would have been just as good, he said, if the Health Ministry had paid enough to fill the vacancies. But the loss had strained the clinic, especially when he was sickened for weeks. “People were falling dead on the sidewalk, just outside the health center,” Duarte said. Dubious Medical Advice As the epidemic was exploding in Ecuador, Bolsonaro returned to Brazil from Mar-a-Lago. He quickly summoned Nise Yamaguchi, a São Paulo oncologist who had become a prominent champion of hydroxychloroquine. Yamaguchi told the president that the outbreak left no time for the kind of clinical trials other doctors were waiting for. Brazil had been known for one of the strongest public health systems in Latin America for fighting infectious diseases. But when two health ministers refused to support the drug, Bolsonaro replaced them with a loyal military officer, while Yamaguchi became his most trusted adviser. Ignoring a medical consensus, Brazil’s Health Ministry still provides free hydroxychloroquine to anyone with COVID-19. And critics say Bolsonaro’s promotion of the drug, coupled with his refusal to wear a mask or socially distance, has undermined public health. Brazil has suffered more than 157,000 deaths from COVID-19, a total second only to the United States.

How Trump and Bolsonaro broke Latin America’s COVID-19 defenses

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and a high-ranking health official said on Wednesday the federal government will not buy a COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinovac, one day after the Health Minister said it would be included in the nation's immunization program.

Bolsonaro drops plans to buy Chinese vaccine: Says, 'Its expensive and unscientific'

While the world is hoping for a COVID-19 vaccine to be released soon, Brazil's President&nbsp;Jair Bolsonaro has announced that his government will not be buying Chinese vaccine.

He took to social media to make this statement, saying that Brazil will not buy&nbsp;China's Sinovac vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

"For sure, we will not buy the Chinese vaccine," Bolsonaro said on social media, responding to a supporter who urged him not to buy the vaccine. The president said the issue would be clarified later in the day.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/australia-more-than-200-people-to-test-for-hiv-after-covid-19-test-kit-blunder-336912">Also read|&nbsp;Australia: More than 200 people to test for HIV after COVID-19 test kit blunder</a>

The statement has come after the&nbsp;Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, on Tuesday, said that the Brazil government will be buying Sinovac's vaccination to include it in the&nbsp;immunization program. He also added that vaccines developed by&nbsp;AstraZeneca and Oxford University will also be used by the state.

Bolsonaro's government has decided to buy the UK vaccine and then produce it as its biomedical research centre FioCruz in Rio de Janeiro.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/abnormalities-spotted-in-lungs-of-60-coronavirus-patients-months-later-oxford-university-study-336676">Also read|&nbsp;Abnormalities spotted in lungs of 60% coronavirus patients months later: Oxford University study</a>

Sao Paulo state biomedical research centre, the Butantan Institute, is testing the Sinovac vaccine, and Governor João Doria said he hopes to have health regulator approval by the end of the year to start vaccinating people in January.

As of now, the Chinese vaccine has been labelled safe by trials conducted on 9,000 volunteers. These are&nbsp;the first set of results of Sinovac's global Phase 3 trials, which are also being conducted in Turkey and Indonesia.

(With inputs from Reuters)

While the world is hoping for a COVID-19 vaccine to be released soon, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has announced that his government will not be buying Chinese vaccine.

While the world is hoping for a COVID-19 vaccine to be released soon, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has announced that his government will not be buying Chinese vaccine. He took to social media to make this statement, saying that Brazil will not buy China's Sinovac vaccine against the novel coronavirus. "For sure, we will not buy the Chinese vaccine," Bolsonaro said on social media, responding to a supporter who urged him not to buy the vaccine. The president said the issue would be clarified later in the day. Also read| Australia: More than 200 people to test for HIV after COVID-19 test kit blunder The statement has come after the Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, on Tuesday, said that the Brazil government will be buying Sinovac's vaccination to include it in the immunization program. He also added that vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University will also be used by the state. Bolsonaro's government has decided to buy the UK vaccine and then produce it as its biomedical research centre FioCruz in Rio de Janeiro. Also read| Abnormalities spotted in lungs of 60% coronavirus patients months later: Oxford University study Sao Paulo state biomedical research centre, the Butantan Institute, is testing the Sinovac vaccine, and Governor João Doria said he hopes to have health regulator approval by the end of the year to start vaccinating people in January. As of now, the Chinese vaccine has been labelled safe by trials conducted on 9,000 volunteers. These are the first set of results of Sinovac's global Phase 3 trials, which are also being conducted in Turkey and Indonesia. (With inputs from Reuters)

Brazil will not buy China's Sinovac vaccine, says President Jair Bolsonaro

In another major embarassment to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who regards himself as an anti-corruption crusader, one of his allies was caught hiding money in his buttocks during a police investigation, local media reports said on Thursday.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazil-does-not-accept-bribes-bolsonaro-slams-biden-for-offering-help-for-amazon-331665">'Brazil does not accept bribes': Bolsonaro slams Biden for offering help for Amazon</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

The home of Chico Rodrigues, Bolsonaro's deputy leader in the Senate, was raided as part of a corruption investigation into the diversion of government funds for tackling coronavirus pandemic in the northern state of Roraima on Wednesday.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazil-bolsonaros-government-triggers-alarm-after-revoking-mangrove-protections-331052">Brazil: Bolsonaro's government triggers alarm after revoking mangrove protections</a>

Federal officers recovered 30,000 reales ($5,300) in cash, part of which was found in Rodrigues underwear, including "between his buttocks", said major Brazilian news outlets, including O Globo, Folha de S. Paulo and Estadao. &nbsp;

Revista Crusoé, a Brazilian magazine reported the situation was so "preposterous" that some of the recovered money was "stained with faeces.

Rodrigues, in a statement, did not mention of any cash that was confiscated and denied any wrongdoing.&nbsp;

He said his home had been "invaded just for doing my job as a legislator".&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro accused media of using this story to describe his government as corrupt.

"This operation is a typical example that there's no corruption in my government, that we're tackling corruption no matter who it is," the Brazilian president said.

#PropinaNaBunda was trending in Brazil, which means a bribe up the bum which was used by the Brazilians to share the news.&nbsp;

Several people also wrote that the incident would be remembered "in the anals of history". &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

In another major embarassment to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who regards himself as an anti-corruption crusader, one of his allies was caught hiding money in his buttocks during a police investigation, local media reports said on Thursday.

In another major embarassment to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who regards himself as an anti-corruption crusader, one of his allies was caught hiding money in his buttocks during a police investigation, local media reports said on Thursday. Also read | 'Brazil does not accept bribes': Bolsonaro slams Biden for offering help for Amazon The home of Chico Rodrigues, Bolsonaro's deputy leader in the Senate, was raided as part of a corruption investigation into the diversion of government funds for tackling coronavirus pandemic in the northern state of Roraima on Wednesday. Also read | Brazil: Bolsonaro's government triggers alarm after revoking mangrove protections Federal officers recovered 30,000 reales ($5,300) in cash, part of which was found in Rodrigues underwear, including "between his buttocks", said major Brazilian news outlets, including O Globo, Folha de S. Paulo and Estadao. Revista Crusoé, a Brazilian magazine reported the situation was so "preposterous" that some of the recovered money was "stained with faeces. Rodrigues, in a statement, did not mention of any cash that was confiscated and denied any wrongdoing. He said his home had been "invaded just for doing my job as a legislator". Meanwhile, Bolsonaro accused media of using this story to describe his government as corrupt. "This operation is a typical example that there's no corruption in my government, that we're tackling corruption no matter who it is," the Brazilian president said. #PropinaNaBunda was trending in Brazil, which means a bribe up the bum which was used by the Brazilians to share the news. Several people also wrote that the incident would be remembered "in the anals of history".

Brazil: Police recover cash hidden 'between buttocks' of Jair Bolsonaro's ally

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