SAO PAULO (AP) 鈥� Simone Guimar茫es, a retired 52-year-old teacher in Rio de Janeiro, lost at least five relatives to COVID-19: her husband, sister, two brothers-in-law and the godfather of her grandchild. She also lost friends and neighbors.
She woke to the news on Saturday that Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the , whom she blames for her losses. A judge claimed Bolsonaro was intent on escaping days before he was set to begin a 27-year for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to .
鈥淚t鈥檚 a small beginning of justice starting to be served,” she said. 鈥淚mpunity has to end at some point. And in his case, we endured a lot.”
Social media filled with posts Saturday remembering people lost to COVID-19, which also happened in September when the Supreme Court convicted Bolsonaro, even though the legal case had nothing to do with the former president’s pandemic response.
Guimar茫es followed every vote in Bolsonaro鈥檚 trial. She was at a hospital with her sister in 2021 when Bolsonaro, who was president at the time, mimicked patients gasping for air.
鈥淚 had my forehead against my sister鈥檚. She said, 鈥業 can鈥檛 breathe,鈥欌�� Guimar茫es recalled. Her sister later died. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 even bring myself to say his name.鈥�
She now feels indirectly vindicated, like many other Brazilians who lost relatives to the disease. They say Bolsonaro鈥檚 conviction and imprisonment cleansed their souls without delivering justice for their grief.
鈥淚’m very afraid that this conviction for crimes related to the coup will lessen the convictions for other crimes committed during the pandemic,鈥� said Diego Orsi, a 41-year-old translator in Sao Paulo, the nation’s largest city. 鈥淚 feel a bit like the Nuremberg trials had convicted the Nazis for invading Poland, and not for genocide.”
Growing up and then apart
Orsi grew up alongside his cousin, Henrique Cavalari. They were like brothers. In old family photos, the two appear together blowing out birthday candles.
As teenagers, Cavalari introduced Orsi to rock bands. Politically, however, they drifted apart. Orsi considers himself progressive while Cavalari backed Bolsonaro.
鈥淢y uncle always leaned right, and my cousin grew up with that mindset,鈥� Orsi said. 鈥淒uring the pandemic, he became convinced there was nothing to worry about, that social distancing restricted freedom and the priority should be protecting the economy.鈥�
Cavalari ran a motorcycle repair shop and was a staunch Bolsonaro supporter. He couldn鈥檛 afford to close his shop and the far-right leader鈥檚 rhetoric resonated with the mechanics, who attended his rallies even during the deadliest months of the pandemic.
In June 2021, rode motorcycles through Sao Paulo with Bolsonaro. That same month, Cavalari died from COVID-19 complications. He was 41.
Orsi wasn鈥檛 100% sure if Cavalari was at the motorcycle rally, but said his cousin attended previous similar events.
鈥淗e was newly married, paying rent on his business. He needed the money,鈥� Orsi said, recalling he couldn’t visit Cavalari in the hospital intensive care unit because only immediate family was allowed. 鈥淏ut I was told one of the last things he said was to warn his parents to take care, that the disease was serious.”
Orsi鈥檚 family remains divided, much like the rest of Brazil, and he believes Bolsonaro鈥檚 conviction will not change public opinion or reconcile other families.
Feeling grief and vindication
Bolsonaro during his trial. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal from his legal team, though another may come this week. Before his arrest Saturday, he had been under house arrest since August.
鈥淚 would have preferred that he was arrested for allowing 700,000 Brazilians to die, many deaths that could have been avoided, perhaps by speeding up the vaccine rollout,鈥� Orsi told The Associated Press. 鈥淏ut since he is being tried and convicted for other crimes, it cleanses our soul. It gives us a sense that justice has been served.鈥�
There have been more than 700,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Brazil since 2020, the world鈥檚 second-highest toll after the United States.
In 2021, epidemiologists at the Federal University of Pelotas estimated 4 in 5 of those deaths could have been avoided if the Bolsonaro administration had supported containment measures and accelerated vaccine purchases.
Bolsonaro鈥檚 government ignored repeated pleas to sign additional vaccine contracts. He publicly questioned the reliability of shots and mocked contract terms, once suggesting Pfizer recipients would have no legal recourse if they 鈥渢urned into alligators.鈥� and doses were released in phases by age and health risk.
Cavalari died just weeks before he would have been eligible for his first dose, Orsi said.
The same happened to the father of F谩bio de Maria, a 45-year-old teacher in Sao Paulo.
鈥淲hen he was admitted to the hospital, he was about 15 days away from being eligible for his first shot,鈥� de Maria said. 鈥淭hat delay was fatal for him and many others.鈥�
His father died in May 2021 at age 65. De Maria blames Bolsonaro and other officials he believes were complicit, but he said the former president鈥檚 conviction doesn鈥檛 bring justice.
鈥淢any people feel vindicated, and I don鈥檛 blame them. Bolsonaro provoked a lot of anger in many people, including me,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 believe there has been justice for those who died of COVID-19, because that is not why Bolsonaro was convicted.鈥�
Reaching a political turning point
The pandemic marked a change in course for Bolsonaro鈥檚 popularity. During the 2022 campaign, which he lost to Lula, television ads replayed footage of Bolsonaro mocking patients struggling to breathe, which is a common COVID-19 symptom, and highlighted comments widely seen as dismissive of victims and their families.
鈥淏olsonaro lost because of his denialist stance during the pandemic. The margin was very narrow,鈥� said Eduardo Scolese, politics editor at the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper during Bolsonaro鈥檚 term and author of 鈥�1461 Dias na Trincheira鈥� (鈥�1461 Days in the Trenches”).
The federal government was expected to coordinate Brazil鈥檚 early response, Scolese said, but Bolsonaro consistently downplayed the crisis.
鈥淣o one knew how long it would last. Experts called for distancing, while he joined crowds,” Scolese said.
Bolsonaro loses control
As the Brazilian leader resisted public health measures, state and local governments imposed their own. The dispute reached the Supreme Court, which ruled states and municipalities could enact distancing, quarantines and other sanitary rules.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when Bolsonaro lost control. He began to believe everyone was against him, especially the Supreme Court,鈥� Scolese said.
In October 2021, a for actions and omissions during the pandemic, including charlatanism, inciting crime, misuse of public funds and crimes against humanity.
The case sat dormant until September, when Supreme Court Justice Fl谩vio Dino ordered police to expand the investigation. The case remains underway and sealed.
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El茅onore Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro.
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