Dilma: The poorest segment of the population will have no protection against the coronavirus.
"The rich are also getting infected, but the poorest part of the population will have no protection," warns former President Dilma Rousseff, speaking to TV 247, regarding the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. "Forty percent of Brazilians are self-employed and live hand-to-mouth, which should impose immediate social measures on the government," she argues.
247 - Former President Dilma Rousseff warned on Wednesday, March 18, in an interview with TV 247, about the risks that the coronavirus pandemic poses to the poorest segment of the population, to adults living in precarious conditions, and especially to children.
"Brazil is an unequal country even in terms of how the disease arrives. When the disease spreads, the price of inequality becomes clear. The rich are also being infected, but the poorest part of the population will have no protection. Forty percent of Brazilians are self-employed and live on odd jobs, which should impose immediate social measures on the government, such as increasing Bolsa Família benefits for the poorest, a voucher or check for the population that works informally, and unemployment insurance for those who are or become unemployed," Dilma told journalist Leonardo Attuch.
The former president argued that the government should immediately begin spending resources above the ceiling imposed by Constitutional Amendment 95. "Austerity and this spending cap are as serious as the coronavirus," she stated.
Speaking from her residence in Porto Alegre, Dilma Rousseff also criticized the Bolsonaro government for dismantling the primary healthcare policy in the country. Dilma recalled that "Cuban doctors were expelled, called incompetent by Bolsonaro, even though they are respected in many countries around the world."
"They were fundamental at the gateway to the system, which is primary care. But the government dismantled primary care. The doctors were offended. This has compromised the country's public health since this man took office and acted for purely ideological reasons. Now, faced with the coronavirus, he says he will call them back. I don't know if this will be possible," he stated.
According to Dilma, the world is going through the biggest pandemic ever faced, and what is at stake for all countries is the protection of human lives. “If the system cannot protect human lives, the system has failed. Everyone will realize this. When their fathers, their mothers, their grandparents stop receiving care, this will leave great trauma and marks on people's understanding of what a society is, what a country is, and what an economic system is for.”
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