RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Senator Flávio Bolsonaro is trying to use the novel coronavirus pandemic to reposition himself politically, assess advisors to the eldest son of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Targeted by an investigation into salary kickback (“splitting”) in his office in the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (ALERJ), Flávio spent his first year in office in Brasília under siege and even publicly distant from his family nucleus to avoid association with the case of former advisor Fabrício Queiróz.
With the escalation of Covid-19 in the country, however, the senator, regarded as the most moderate of the Bolsonaro clan, raised his tone on social media, headed the opposition to social isolation and began to attend meetings at the Planalto Palace and press conferences. Members of the crisis cabinet claim that he attends as a listener and has no say in government decisions.
The senator also took it upon himself to discuss the President’s position regarding the fight against Covid-19 with legislators. He is assigned the task of dealing with entrepreneurs who are calling for an end to the quarantine.
Flávio said, through his advisors, that his priority and that of the government is “to return reassurance to the population”. “Ensuring lives, jobs, and income is the most important thing. All my energy is focused on finding solutions to this crisis”.
Flávio is also suspected of maintaining relations with the militiaman Adriano Nóbrega, who died in February in Bahia. The mother and wife of the former state police officer worked in Flávio’s office in the ALERJ, hired by Queiroz.
For people close to the senator, the health crisis evidences a strengthening of family ties and of Flávio’s role as advisor to the President. In his first year in office, city councilor Carlos Bolsonaro, his #2 son, in charge of the so-called “hate bureau,” which controls the President’s social media, and Federal Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro exercised more influence over their father.
In a March 26th post, Flávio praised Carlos, with whom he maintains a history of political and family quarrels. “Congratulations, Carluxo, for not staying home and going to work! I am a witness to your crucial importance alongside President Jair Bolsonaro in overcoming the crisis,” he wrote.
Family
On March 21st, the President’s birthday, Flávio recorded the three brothers together on his social media while his father shot a video announcing that he had decided to increase Chloroquine production in the army’s chemical and pharmaceutical laboratory.
There are still no conclusive studies on the effectiveness of the drug in the treatment of Covid-19. The senator began to advocate the return of Brazilians to work, contrary to the determination of health authorities.
The video, commissioned by the government, also emerged from the President’s son’s social media, encouraging an end to isolation with the motto “Brazil Can’t Stop”. The Special Secretariat of Communication (SECOM) said the video had been made on an “experimental” basis, but failed to explain how the material reached the senator so he could post it.
The senator also shared a publication from a Bolsonarist website that used a fake photo to illustrate alleged cases of Covid-19 cure using Chloroquine. The picture shows a person who has not contracted the disease.
His #1 son has also grpwm closer to the President’s few remaining allies. During the Easter holiday, he visited a field hospital alongside the mayor of Rio, Marcelo Crivella, who is expected to run for re-election.
Source: O Estado de S. Paulo