Bolsonaro turns Brazilians into guinea pigs

Not even the catastrophic cinema of Hollywood has been able to create a ruler who encourages the population to circulate through the streets during a pandemic. This is what Jair Bolsonaro is doing in Brazil. He seems to be conducting an experiment, treating people like laboratory mice by subjecting them to conflicting stimuli. If they ignore the pandemic and live their lives normally, will they or will they not get the coronavirus? How many will die if they obey his erratic orientation to return to work instead of following the directives of his own Ministry of Health and most of the governors? It is an experiment, but not scientific, because Bolsonaro despises science. His sadistic game starts from his personal truth, which for him is all existing truth and he does not need to subject it to tests and counter-tests. It is also based on an atrocious fear that his government will associate with the looming recession, which would mean that he would not be re-elected in 2022.

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What happens if a president makes an official statement against the end of isolation during a pandemic? What are the consequences of the leader of the largest country in South America, with more than 210 million inhabitants, going against the guidelines of the World Health Organization? What effect does a government that ignores the mistakes and successes of the countries that have already reached the height of the covid-19 cause on the population? Brazil and the world will soon discover it.

According to a study by Imperial College London, if total isolation measures are not taken, in Brazil more than 1.15 million people could die from the coronavirus. With isolation, the same study estimates some 44,000 fatalities. The difference is more than a million lives. But Bolsonaro only believes in himself.

Even Donald Trump backed off from the pandemic, forced to understand that there are times when even a stubborn liar cannot deny reality. Bolsonaro has decided to turn his war against science into a war against the population. Caravans have been held in different parts of the country, incited by the president, to request that trade be reopened. Justice has been forced to stop an official campaign against isolation. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram eliminated Bolsonaro posts that generated "disinformation" capable of "causing real harm to people."

In the covid-19 pandemic, Bolsonaro has drifted away from the other despots elected by vote. He is no longer part of the same group. Start writing your own chapter. If the worst happens, you can go down in history as the great villain of this century's most pressing global threat. And perhaps answer for your crimes before the tribunal of humanity.

Translation by Meritxell Almarza

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