Brazil: Thousands demand impeachment against Bolsonaro

Protests against President Jair Bolsonaro spread across Brazil on Saturday, a day after the Federal Supreme Court authorized a criminal investigation into his response to allegations of possible acts of corruption related to an agreement to purchase coronavirus vaccines.

Protesters gathered in hundreds or thousands in more than 40 cities across the country to demand a political trial against the president or to demand greater access to vaccines against COVID-19.

“If we observe a minute of silence for each person killed by COVID, we would be silent until June 2022,” read the banner held by a man in Belém, capital of the state of Pará. More than half a million Brazilians have died of COVID-19, according to official data.

In her decision on Friday, Judge Rosa Weber, Federal Supreme Court, noted that the investigation is supported by a recent statement in a Senate commission investigating the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prosecutors will investigate whether Bolsonaro committed the crime of “prevarication,” which involves delaying or refraining from an action required as part of the duty of a public official for reasons of personal interest. Weber did not rule out the possibility of investigating other possible crimes.

The investigation began after the head of the import division of the Ministry of Health, Luis Ricardo Miranda, revealed that he suffered undue pressure to approve the import of 20 million vaccines from the Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech.

He added that there were irregularities in the invoices and in particular in the advance payment of $45 million to a Singapore-based company.

Miranda testified June 25 before the Senate committee along with his brother Luis Miranda, a lawmaker who until recently was an ally of Bolsonaro. The Mirandas said they expressed their concerns directly to Bolsonaro, who assured them that he would report the irregularities to the Federal Police.

However, the Federal Police did not receive any request for an investigation, a source from the institution with knowledge of the investigations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so publicly.

The secretary general of the presidency, Onyx Lorenzoni, confirmed that Bolsonaro met with the Mirandas, but maintained that they presented falsified documents. Lorenzoni added that Bolsonaro ordered that the brothers be investigated.

Bharat has denied wrongdoing with regard to the supply of vaccines. Bolsonaro, in turn, has denied having committed any crime or having knowledge of corruption and told the press on June 28 that he cannot know what is happening in all his ministries.

The Supreme Court decision authorizing the investigation was in response to a request from three senators. Most senators on the investigative commission previously told the AP that, once the investigation is concluded, they will vote to recommend that Bolsonaro be charged with prevarication, a crime that carries a prison sentence of three months to a year and an economical fine.

At the protest in Rio de Janeiro, Terezinha Zanata, a 63-year-old retiree, said the government has mishandled issues related to violence, the environment and indigenous rights.

“This is in addition to the indifference to the issue of the pandemic,” said Zanata, who complained about the slowness of the vaccination campaign and a president who has long played down the severity of the disease.