Evangelicals marched and prayed in Brasilia for the health of Jair Bolsonaro, infected with coronavirus

07/19/2020 - 15:16

• Clarín.com
• World

About 2,000 supporters of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, marched this Sunday in the capital Brasilia called by evangelical movements and to express their solidarity to the president, who is infected by the new coronavirus.

Unlike recent demonstrations in favor of Bolsonaro, in which his followers called for the closure of Congress and the Supreme Court, this Sunday's mobilization focused more on supporting the convalescent ruler and protests against the governors for his management against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The protesters, summoned on social networks by evangelical leaders sympathetic to Bolsonaro, gathered at the Museum of the Republic and carrying a giant wooden cross, they moved in the middle of the Esplanada dos Ministerios, seat of the executive power, to the outskirts of Congress .

At the Legislative headquarters, protesters stopped at Alameda dos Estados, an alley that honors the 27 Brazilian states and where there was a cross next to each regional flag, to pray for the health of Bolsonaro , who on Saturday stated that he could not accompany the march as on other occasions.

AFP

Bolsonaro, one of the world's most skeptical leaders regarding the severity of the pandemic and who came to call the pathogen "influenza" , contracted COVID-19 and announced the positive result of the clinical test on July 7.

The far-right leader used to accompany the demonstrations in his favor that usually take place every Sunday during the pandemic and in most he participated without the use of a mask, as is mandatory in the Federal District and in other parts of the country, and even embraced several of his supporters.

A staunch defender of the opening of trade and some economic activities, contrary to the quarantines and rigid measures of social isolation recommended by health authorities worldwide, Bolsonaro has delegated the responsibility for managing the pandemic to the governors.

AFP

In his social networks, Bolsonaro indicated that he could not go to the demonstration this Sunday to "not give a bad example" , despite the fact that with mild symptoms he remains in quarantine, and accused the governors, empowered by a decision of the Court Supreme to be managers in the crisis, of "cutting the economy".

Brazil, the second country most affected by the new coronavirus after the United States, officially recorded almost 2.1 million confirmed cases and 78,000 deaths until Saturday.

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After expressing their votes in prayers for the health of the head of state, the protesters, already with the 27 crosses, went to the Cathedral of Brasilia, where the march dispersed peacefully and without the presence of opposition groups to the Government, which they often call protests simultaneously.

Despite the fact that this Sunday's pro-Bolsonaro mobilization aimed to support the ruler for his health problems and criticism of the governors, a few protesters carried signs in favor of military intervention with the president in charge.

Previous protests by Bolsonaro supporters, called against Congress and the Supreme Court and in which the President came to participate, are the subject of investigations in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which consider them as acts undemocratic.

The opposition has even presented several requests for impeachment against Bolsonaro to the Legislative and Judicial branches for supporting such demonstrations.

Source: EFE