At 8:30 pm last night, citizens in cities across Brazil held simultaneous pots and pans protests demanding the resignation of psychopathic President Jair Bolsonaro for mishandling the coronavirus pandemic. Cries of “get out Bolsonaro!,” and “genocidalist,” rang through the country. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
In the city of Manaus, capital of Amazonas state, the crisis is horrific, but is also being replicated in other cities in the interior. This was once a bastion of political support for Bolsonaro—but no more. The healthcare system has completely collapsed; both public and private hospitals are running out of oxygen and other supplies, and have no ICU or other beds, to treat COVID patients or those suffering from other ailments. The daily O Globo reported that desperate citizens stood in line overnight, waiting to fill up empty oxygen tanks needed to treat family members suffering from COVID at home. One doctor told the daily El Pais “this is no second wave, it’s a tsunami.” The new variant of COVID has now also shown up in Brazil, greatly complicating the situation.
