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At a tense cabinet meeting on Saturday in the Brazilian president's official residence, Jair Bolsonaro found himself isolated. The far-right leader convened the emergency meeting in Brasilia's modernist Alvorada Palace to resolve a dispute with Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who publicly opposed the president's calls to loosen quarantine restrictions for Brazil's 210 million people.
Bolsonaro's disapproval rating rises amid virus havoc
AFP•April 3, 2020
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has faced nightly protests for weeks over his handling of the coronavirus crisis; he is pictured March 18, 2020 (AFP Photo/Sergio LIMA)
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's disapproval rating has surged as the far-right leader has taken a vocal stance against coronavirus containment measures, two polls out Friday found.
Bolsonaro, who has compared COVID-19 to a "bit of sniffles" and criticized the "hysteria" around it, has found himself increasingly isolated on the issue as the pandemic advances.
Thirty-nine percent of Brazilians disapprove of his handling of the crisis, up six points from two weeks ago, polling firm Datafolha found.
That was similar to the result reported by polling firm XP Ip Espe, which found Bolsonaro's disapproval rating hit its highest level since he took office in January 2019.
Forty-two percent of Brazilians said the president's overall performance was "bad" or "terrible," up six points in a month, it said.
Both polls found the president's approval rating was essentially stable: 33 percent, in the Datafolha poll, which asked specifically about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic; and 28 percent, according to XP, which focused on overall performance.
Those numbers were down two points in both cases, indicating the president retains a relatively stable core of support even as his disapproval ratings rise.
The polls, meanwhile, found a surge in approval for Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who has stood by international recommendations on taking aggressive measures to contain the new coronavirus, braving criticism from Bolsonaro.
Mandetta's approval rating leapt 21 points to 76 percent, Datafolha found.
Bolsonaro has faced nightly protests for weeks in some of Brazil's biggest cities for his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Confined residents bang pots and pans out their windows, shouting, "Get out, Bolsonaro!"
His criticism of containment measures such as closing businesses and schools has increasingly isolated him in Brazil and abroad.
State and local authorities have largely ignored him to follow World Health Organization advice on adopting social distancing measures as Brazil has emerged as the hardest-hit country in Latin America, with 359 deaths and 9,056 cases so far.
The Datafolha poll was conducted by cell phone from April 1 to 3 with 1,511 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of three percentage points.
The XP poll was conducted from March 30 to April 1 with 1,000 people nationwide, with a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.
By Lisandra Paraguassu,Reuters•April 3, 2020
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, agreeing to a request from evangelical Christians, said on Friday that he was calling for a national day of fasting and prayer this Sunday to "free Brazil from this evil" coronavirus epidemic.
As the death toll mounts in the country, along with criticism of his handling of the public health crisis, Bolsonaro met with Pentecostal evangelical pastors outside his official residence. Evangelicals have been among the right-wing leader's most faithful supporters.
"With the pastors and religious leaders we will call for a day of fasting by Brazilians so that Brazil can free itself from this evil as soon as possible," he later said on radio station Jovem Pan.
On Friday, the country's coronavirus deaths increased to 359 from 299, while confirmed cases jumped to 9,056.
Brazilians overwhelmingly disapprove of Bolsonaro for minimizing the epidemic and support governors and health officials that he has attacked for advocating social-distancing measures, two polls showed on Friday.
Bolsonaro has become increasingly isolated politically as he continues to rail against state and municipal shutdowns, calling them economically disastrous responses to an over-hyped risk.
The idea of fasting and prayer gained momentum on Friday among Bolsonaro supporters and evangelical preachers on social media.
"Brazil is in a serious crisis. The forces of evil are rising against a God-fearing Christian president and family defender. Sunday will be a day of fasting," Congressman Marco Feliciano, an evangelical pastor, said in a Twitter post.
Pastor Silas Malafaia, a leader of Brazil's largest Pentecostal church, the Assembly of God, proposed on social media that the fast begin at midnight on Saturday and last until midday Sunday.
Bolsonaro's approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since he took office last year. He was elected in a conservative swing by Brazilian voters, with massive evangelical support for his family values platform opposing abortion and gay marriage.
A former army captain turned politician, Bolsonaro was raised a Roman Catholic and was re-baptized by an evangelical pastor in the River Jordan in 2016 in Israel, as he began to plan a run for president.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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