Page 9 - MONTT LATIN AMERICAN MAGAZINE, MAY 2021, (English)

Avoiding the Number of Death
After the declaration of the president of P zer it was clear that Brazil could have received 1,5 million doses of the best vaccine in December of last year. The pharmaceutical company submitted ve proposals to the federal government between August and November. The rst three expected delivery of this amount of vaccines still in 2020. The last two, only in the rst quarter of this year. The Ministry of Health, then headed by General Eduardo Pazuello, did not respond to any. The main objection was the clauses of the contract, which Brazil considered abusive, but which 66 other countries accepted without objecting.
The Brazilian government signed the contract with the pharmaceutical company in March 19th, 2021, 234 days after P zer’s rst o er.
“How many lives of Brazilians could have been saved if we had had those vaccines since last year? I think the omission that occurred is clear, “said opponent Randolfe Rodrigues, from the Sustainability Network party, outlining the opposition’s strategy. The Bolsonaristas, however, claimed that the Government was negotiating the terms of the contract, considered draconian, and waiting for the National Health Surveillance Agency to approve the product.
Fearless Manifestations
Thousands of Brazilians in recent days faced their fears of contracting covid-19 and took to the streets to protest against the Government of Jair Bolsonaro, in a unison cry “for life” that resounded in the rst mass marches recorded throughout the country since the start of the pandemic. Convened by the trade union centrals, leftist parties and social movements, the protests took place in more than 200 cities throughout the country, including the capitals.
The protesters demanded that the leader speed up the vaccination process in the South American giant and increase the amount of aid so that the poorest - those most a ected by the pandemic - have an adequate income to face the crisis that came
with the virus.
Armed with masks, alcohol gel and posters, the protesting groups also called for a halt to the privatizations of state-owned companies and an end to budget cuts at universities. Banners with the phrases “Out with Bolsonaro!”, “Vaccine for everyone now! “Genocidal Bolsonaro” were the common denominator in the marches in all cities, as well as posters remembering the deaths and more than 16,3 million infections that have made Brazil one of the countries most a ected by the pandemic.
The mobilizations started early in cities like Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Bethlehem and Recife. However, in the late afternoon demonstrations were scheduled in other cities such as Curitiba, Manaus and Fortaleza, as well as in Sao Paulo, the most populous city in Brazil, where the largest protests in the country took place. Despite everything, Bolsonaro feels relatively safe because in mid-2020 he formed an alliance with a block of parties known as the Centrão (great center) to protect himself from the impeachment requests, which in total today reach 117. Centrão’s support is never free. A recent investigation by the newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo showed that last year the Bolsonaro government disbursed more than USD $ 3,9 billion channelled through the Ministry of Development to congressmen to nance public works and buy agricultural equipment at in ated prices, sometimes through of family-owned businesses. Brazil’s political system, known as “coalition presidentialism,” is a hybrid between the US presidential model and the European-style parliamentary government. The President directs policymaking and writes the budget, but he can’t do much without Congress, where his party rarely has a majority. Brazil’s 30 or so political parties lack important ideological platforms; they endorse the Presidents in exchange for patronage. This favours projects that win votes, such as paving roads or painting schools.
Fall of the Economy
While the national mobilizations sought to wear down Jair Bolsonaro and accelerate the investigations that a Senate commission is currently carrying out on possible
omissions by the Government in the management of the pandemic, the economy was giving bad signs.
About 15 million people were unemployed at the end of March. The gure represents 14,7 percent of the workforce, that is, adults of age and ability to work, and indicates a level not seen since records began under a new methodology in 2012.
The statistics, corresponding to the rst quarter of 2021, is also much higher than both comparable periods: that of a year ago, when the pandemic began, and that of the previous three months, between October and December 2020.
According to the state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which measures data every three months, in the rst quarter of 2020 the unemployment rate had been 12,2 percent and that of the fourth quarter of 2020 was 13,9 percent. The data re ects the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, the second country in the world with the most deaths from coronavirus in absolute terms, behind only the United States.
Tax Reform
Finance Minister Paulo Guedes said he expects the Tax Reform to be approved in four to ve more months, adding that constructive discussions with congressional leaders suggest there is no reason why its enactment cannot be achieved this year. In a virtual speech to the industrialists, Guedes declared that the corporate tax will fall by five percent according to the Government’s proposals and that the Tax Reform package will be simple and broad-based.
The secretary of state acknowledged that some concessions will likely have to be made for the package to be approved by Congress, noting that he has been forced to abandon his idea of a nancial transaction tax due to widespread opposition.
The head of the Treasury emphasized that indirect taxes will be reduced, dividends will be taxed, but that the general tax burden will not increase. Corporate taxes will drop 2,5 percent the rst year and then another 2.5 percent the following year.
Montt Latin American Magazine p9
Protests Against the President
Brazil Accepts to Host Copa America