(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 17 April 2020)
Formr prezidnt brandz cuṛnt līdr a ‘trogḷdît’ hu śd b rmuvd fṛm ofis
Tom Filips in Rio de Janeiro. 17 Epril 2020
Jair Bolsonaro z līdñ Bṛziłnz “t ɖ slōtrhǎs” wɖ hiz irisponsbl hanḍlñ v c’roṇvîṛs, ɖ cuntri’s formr prezidnt Inácio Lula da Silva hz sd.
In an impaśnd inṭvy wɖ ɖ Gardịn – ẃć cem az Bṛzil’z Covid-19 deʈtol hit 1,924 – Lula sd ɖt bî unḍmainñ sośl distnsñ n dfeṇstretñ hiz ǒn hlʈministr, Bṛzil’z “trogḷdît” līdr risct rpitñ ɖ devstetñ sīnz pleyñ ǎt in Eqdor ẃr faṃliz hv hd t dump ɖer luvd wnz’ corpsz in ɖ strīts.
“Unforćṇtli I fir Bṛzil z gwñ t sufr a gret dīl bcz v Bolsonaro’z reclisnis … I fir ɖt f ɖs groz Bṛzil cd si sm cesz lîc ɖoz hrific, monstṛs iṃjz w sw in Guayaquil,” sd ɖ 74-yir-old leftist.
“W c’nt jst wont t topl a prezidnt bcz w d’nt lîc him,” Lula admitd. “[Bt] f Bolsonaro cntinyz t cmit crîmz v rsponsbiḷti … [n] trayñ t līd ssayti t ɖ slōtrhǎs – ẃć z ẃt h z dwñ – I ʈnc ɖ insttyśnz wl nīd t fînd a we v sortñ Bolsonaro ǎt. N ɖt wl mīn y’l nīd t hv an impićmnt.”
Bolsonaro – a prǎdli hoṃfobic formr armicaptin olrdi dspîzd bî pṛgresiv Bṛziłnz fr hiz hostiḷti t ɖ invîrnmnt, indijṇs rîts n ɖ arts, az wel az hiz alejd lincs t Rio’z mafia – hz ełnetd miłnz mor wɖ hiz dsmisiv stans twdz ɖ c’roṇvîṛs, ẃć h b’litlz az mīdia “hstiria” n a “bit v a cold”.
Sins ɖ Wrld Hlʈ Orġnîześn dclerd ɖ pandemic on 11 Marć, Bṛzil’z prezidnt hz rpitidli ʈumd hiz nǒz at sośl distnsñ, frst bî egñ on n atndñ pro-Bolsonaro protests n ɖen wɖ a siriz v pṛvoc̣tiv vizits t bec̣riz, sūṗmarcits n farṃsiz. Jrñ wn uņesṣri ǎtñ Bolsonaro dclerd: “Nwn wl hindr mî rît t cm n g.”
In Marć ɖ rîtwñ popylist īvn sjstd Bṛziłnz nīd nt wuri abt Covid-19 sins ɖe cd beɖ in xcrimnt “n nʈñ hapnz”.
Sć muvz pt Bolsonaro at logrhedz wɖ hiz ǒn hlʈministr, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, a doctr-trnd-poḷtiśn hu wz fîrd on Ʈrzde aftr ćaḷnjñ ɖ prezidnt’s bhevyr.
Mnẃl Bolsonaro’z poḷtiśn sun, Eduardo, hz tecn ɖ recñbōl t tîz wɖ Bṛzil’z most importnt tredpartnr, Ćîna, bî akzñ its Coḿnist parti līdrz v biyñ t blem fr ɖ c’roṇvîṛs crîsis.
Bolsonaro’z ax́nz hv sparct nîtli pot-baññ protests in sitiz p n dǎn ɖ cuntri n drwn scorn fṛm acrs ɖ p’liticl spectṛm.
“C’roṇvîṛs mst b lafñ its hed of,” Eliane Cantanhêde, a coḷmnist fr ɖ cnsrvtiv Estado de São Paulo nyzpepr, rout v Bolsonaro’z antics ɖs wīc.
Ɖ rîtwñ guvnr v Bṛzil’z most popyḷs stet, São Paulo, hz dclerd ɖ cuntri at wor wɖ bʈ ɖ c’roṇvîṛs n ɖ “Bolsonaro-vîṛs”.
Lula, hu guvnd fṛm 2003 untl 2010, clemd ɖt Bolsonaro’z “gṛtesc” ax́nz wr indenjrñ lîvz bî ignorñ distnsñgîdlînz pt in ples bî Bṛzil’z ǒn hlʈmiṇstri.“It’s naćṛl ɖt a porśn v ssayti dz’nt unḍstand ɖ nīd t ste at hom or hǎ sirịs ɖs z – ispeṣ́li ẃn ɖ prezidnt v ɖ rpublic z a trogḷdît hu sz it’s jst a litl flu,” Lula sd bî vidiocōl fṛm ɖ Bṛziłn siti v São Bernardo do Campo, ẃr h z in slf-îṣleśn aftr rtrnñ fṛm a tur v Yṛp.
“Ɖ truʈ z Bolsonaro dz’nt ʈnc abt ɖ impact hiz dstructiv acts hv on ssayti. H’z reclis.”Bolsonaro sz hiz opziśn t distnsñ stemz fṛm hiz dzîr t pṛtct Bṛzil’z most vulnṛbl sitiznz n ɖer jobz.
Aftr sacñ hiz hlʈministr, Bolsonaro clemd t b fîtñ fr “ɖ loñ-suf̣rñ Bṛziłn ppl” n wornd c’roṇvîṛs ʈretnd t bcm “a veriṭbl mìtgrîndr v jobz”.
“At no pônt hz ɖ guvnmnt abandnd ɖ nīdiist … Ɖ impoṿriśt masz canot ste stuc p at hom,” Bolsonaro sd. “I nǒ … lîf z prîslis. Bt ɖ icoṇmi n jobz mst rtrn t norml.”
Lula, hu wz born intu rṛl poṿti n wún inṭnaśnl plōdits fr hiz fît agnst hungr, scoft at ɖ îdīa Bolsonaro wz a ćampịn v ɖ pur.
“Bolsonaro z onli inṭrestd in himslf, hiz cidz, sm priti cnsrvtiv jenṛlz n hiz paṛmilitri frendz,” h clemd, in refṛns t loñstandñ aḷgeśnz ovr ɖ Bṛziłn prezidnt’s faṃlitîz t ɖ Rio de Janeiro mafia.
“H dz’nt spīc t ssayti. Bolsonaro dz’nt hv irz t lisn. H jst hz a mǎʈ t tōc nonsns.”
Ẃl Bṛzil’z formr prezidnt clemd impićmnt wz an opśn, h cnsidd ɖr wz nt cuṛntli s’port fr ɖt in ɖ cuntri’z congres, az ɖr wz ẃn hiz leftwñ s’xesr Dilma Rousseff wz rmuvd fṛm ofis in 2016.
H sd mni rîtwñ poḷtiśnz ʈt it wîzr t alǎ Bolsonaro t cntiny saḅtājñ hiz ćansz v riilex́n in 2022 ʈru hiz ǒn incompitns – bfr ilectñ anɖr prezidnt fṛm ɖ rît.
Lula, hu wz sîdlînd fṛm 2018’z ilex́n aftr biyñ jeld on dspytd c’rupśnćarjz, signld h wd nt b ɖ leftwñ canddet in ɖt contest.
“I’v lost mî p’liticl rîts so I’m nt tōcñ abt mslf,” sd Lula, hu wz rlist in Nvmbr 2019 fṛm 580 dez in prizn aftr a s’prīm-cort rūlñ.“Bt I’l tel y smʈñ, y cn b srtn ɖ left wl b guṿnñ Bṛzil agn aftr 2022. W d’nt nīd t tōc abt hu ɖ canddet z rît nǎ. Bt w wl vot fr smwn hu z cmitd t hymn rîts n rspcts ɖm, hu rspcts invîrnmntl pṛtx́n, hu rspcts ɖ Aṃzn … hu rspcts blacs n ɖ indijṇs. W’r gwñ t ilect smwn hu z cmitd t ɖ pur v ɖs cuntri.”
Obzrvrz v Bṛziłn poḷtics r les śr Bolsonaro z toṭli finiśt – or ɖt ɖ left z wel pziśnd t rples him. Sm b’liv Bolsonaro – wn v jst for wrldlīdrz stl dǎnpleyñ c’roṇvîṛs alñsd ɖ oʈoṛterịn prezidnts v Nic̣rağa, Beḷrŭs n Trcmenistan – hz obliṭretd hiz ćansz v a secnd trm wɖ hiz rspons t ɖ crîsis.
Bt Thomas Traumann, a p’liticl comntetr n cḿṇceśnzministr undr Rousseff, sd sć srtnti wz preṃtyr: “Ɖr r tū snć̣riz t g untl 2022.”
Traumann sd it wz clir Bolsonaro hd svirli wìcnd himslf – bt so far rîtwñ poḷtiśnz sć az ɖ guvnrz v Rio de Janeiro n São Paulo apird t b capiṭlîzñ on Bolsonaro’z blundrz ɖ most.
N ultiṃtli Bṛzil wz hrtlñ intu sć an unpridictbl n ptnṣ́li tymulćs fy wīcs ɖt it wz imposbl t nǒ ẃt ɖ p’liticl fōlǎt mt b.
“W nǒ Bolsonaro wl cm ǎt v ɖs wìcr. W nǒ hiz mstecs wl nt b fgivn,” Traumann sd. Hǎ ɖ p’liticl ćips wd fōl aftr ɖt wz enwn’z ges, Traumann add, lîc̣nñ Bṛzil’z pridic̣mnt t ɖ start v a rolrcǒstr rîd.
“Ol w nǒ z ɖt mni lūps lî ahd … W r muvñ intu an uņoun wrld … W r sêlñ in ɖ darcnis.”
Lula sd h wz srtn v wn ʈñ: ɖt at a momnt v naśnl crîsis, Bṛzil nīdd a līdr ceṗbl v ynîtñ its 211 miłn sitiznz.
“A prezidnt śd b lîc ɖ cnductr v an orcistra,” h sd. “Ɖ probḷm z ɖt ǎr cnductr nz nʈñ abt ḿzic, c’nt rīd a scor n dz’nt īvn nǒ hǎ ɖ batnz wrc.
“H’z trayñ t ple clasicl ḿzic wɖ ɖ instṛmnts y yz t ple samba. H’z trnd hiz orcistra intu a madnis – a Tǎr v Bebl,” Lula sd. “H dz’nt nǒ ẃt h’z dwñ in ɖ preẓdnśl palis … Nt īvn Trump tecs him sirịsli.”
