The Pandemic Politics of the Bolsonaro Government in Brazil: COVID-19 Denial, the Chloroquine Economy and High Death Rates

ABSTRACT

The response of the Bolsonaro government to the COVID-19 pandemic was ridden with inconsistencies and delayed action. The president continuously denied the severity of the pandemic and propagated the anti-malaria drug chloroquine as a possible treatment. Political allies of the president profited financially from government orders to produce the drug. The federal government paid an emergency basic income to poorer citizens during 2020, leading to the lowest inequality rates on record in poorer regions. However, in 2021 inflation in food prices and gas for cooking led to falling wages and widespread hunger and misery, with more than 30 million people acutely affected by hunger. Occupational groups that were affected disproportionately by dismissals and work-related deaths due to COVID-19 were workers in public transport, in slaughterhouses, in the health sector and domestic workers. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.