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Bolsonaro with security guards in Rome (October 29th)
Photo: Maurizio Brambatti Bt / dpa
Things are currently far from going well for Jair Bolsonao.
Because of his handling of the corona crisis, the president at home in Brazil is threatened with a possible charge.
At the G20 meeting in Rome, the right-wing politician seems largely isolated - and now there is also anger about his security team.
According to media reports, the president's bodyguards used violence against journalists who reported on his trip to Rome for the G20 summit.
According to an article in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, TV journalist Leonardo Monteiro of TV Globo was punched and poked in the stomach by Bolsonaro's security guards.
He asked why Bolsonaro did not take part in the G20 events on Sunday.
A video recorded by another journalist shows chaotic scenes with security forces harassing the press and Bolsonaro supporters berating the journalists.
It is still unclear whether the security forces were Brazilians or Italians.
The Bolsonaros office and the press team at the G20 summit have not yet responded to inquiries.
The weekend in Rome had gone bad for Bolsonaro.
Videos from G20 events showed him as an isolated figure.
He was missing from the photo taken at the Trevi Fountain with the heads of state and government.
In addition, he was loudly criticized on the streets of Rome for his handling of the pandemic in his country and described by critics as a "genocide".
More than 600,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, the second highest number in the world after the United States.
There is also more trouble at home
A committee of the Brazilian Senate had recently voted in favor of bringing charges against Bolsonaro because of his corona policy.
Seven of the eleven committee members formally approved an investigation report in the capital Brasília last Tuesday.
It holds Bolsonaro responsible for at least nine crimes - from deceiving the public to inciting criminal offenses to crimes against humanity.
The investigation committee's report also called for charges to be brought by the public prosecutor's office against almost 80 other suspects, including several ministers and ex-ministers as well as three sons of Bolsonaro.
Even if actual criminal law consequences for Jair Bolsonaro are rather unlikely - politically, the development could certainly damage him.
jok / Reuters
