Hundreds of people again took part in rallies and demonstrations in several Brazilian cities on Sunday to demand the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro, criticized for his handling of the pandemic which has already killed more than 223,000 people in his country.
About 200 people gathered on Eixo Monumental Avenue in central Brasilia carrying banners that read “Bolsonaro out” or “Impeachment now”, while a convoy of dozens of cars expressed support honking.
“Due to this mismanagement, we end up with more than 220,000 dead, that’s enough with Bolsonaro, impeachment now”Drag queen and LGBT activist Ruth Venceremos told AFP.
The health system in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas province, collapsed two weeks ago after the number of cases of the virus increased. The lack of oxygen in hospitals has led to the transfer of more than 350 patients to other states.
Some experts say the crisis happened in part because of a new – more contagious – variant of the coronavirus that was detected in the Amazon, but many Brazilians hold the government responsible for the delays in taking action.
The Bolsonaro government is criticized for errors in handling the health crisis and for the delay in vaccination, which began two weeks ago with just 12.8 million doses of two vaccines (the Chinese CoronaVac and the British d ‘AstraZeneca), in a country of 212 million people.
President Bolsonaro has also questioned the effectiveness of vaccines and criticized social distancing measures.
With AFP
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