Thousands of people on Saturday joined caravans in several cities to demand the ouster of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The protests, organized by leftist parties and organizations, saw about 500 vehicles parading along Brasilia’s Esplanade of Ministries and blaring their horns, their windows painted with slogans like “Bolsonaro Out,” “Impeachment Now” or “Vaccination for Everyone.”
Similar protests involving hundreds of vehicles were seen in other cities, including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Brazil has the world’s second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 216,475, and its vaccination program has gotten off to a late and rocky start in a country where Bolsonaro long played down the severity of the pandemic.
The protesters also objected to the end last month of an emergency financial aid plan that had helped about 68 million Brazilians — nearly one-third of the population — cope with the devastating effects of the pandemic.
Protests were yesterday to continue in major cities, but this time organized by right-wing groups that had supported Bolsonaro when he came to power in January 2019, but which have taken their distance from him over his handling of the pandemic.
A poll taken on Wednesday and Thursday by the Instituto Datafolha showed Bolsonaro’s approval rating dropping sharply to its lowest point in his two years in office.
Only 31 percent of respondents said that the far-right president was doing a “good” or a “very good job,” down from his high point of 37 percent in polls last August and last month.
A second wave of COVID-19 surging through the South American giant has claimed more than 1,000 lives a day, causing particular havoc in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, where intensive care wards are at or above capacity and people have died, asphyxiated, when oxygen supplies ran out.
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