Brazil’s Bolsonaro installs fourth health minister of pandemic

Written by DCY on

More in International:

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 16, 2020 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (R) listens to his Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, during the launch of the national vaccination plan against the novel coronavirus COVID-19 at Planalto Palace in Brasilia. – In a change of course, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro named respected cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as his new health minister on March 15, replacing Eduardo Pazuello, an army general with no prior medical experience. Queiroga will be the fourth to hold the post during the pandemic, as the country’s health system staggers amid surging COVID-19 cases. But neither the departure of the criticized soldier, nor the appointment of his successor have yet been published in the Official Journal. (Photo by EVARISTO SA / AFP)

 

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro formally installed his fourth health minister of the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, ending a week of uncertainty over who actually held the post amid a deadly surge of Covid-19.

The far-right president signed the decree installing cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as health minister in a private ceremony, replacing army general Eduardo Pazuello, the health ministry said in a statement.

“The new minister meets the technical requirements and has the spotless reputation required for the position, with ample experience not only in health care but management,” it said.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 16, 2021 Doctor Marcelo Queiroga (L), appointed by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for Minister of Health, and current Minister Eduardo Pazuello talk to the press outside the ministry in Brasilia. – In a change of course, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro named respected cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as his new health minister on March 15, replacing Eduardo Pazuello, an army general with no prior medical experience. Queiroga will be the fourth to hold the post during the pandemic, as the country’s health system staggers amid surging COVID-19 cases. But neither the departure of the criticized soldier, nor the appointment of his successor have yet been published in the Official Journal. (Photo by EVARISTO SA / AFP)

Bolsonaro announced on Monday last week that he was firing Pazuello, whose handling of the pandemic was widely criticized, and replacing him with Queiroga, 55.

But an unusual limbo ensued when the president took more than a week to officially install Queiroga — drawing accusations of chaotic crisis management at a point when Brazil is struggling with an explosion of Covid-19 that has pushed many hospitals to the breaking point.

Brazilian media reports said Bolsonaro was scrambling to find a way to keep Pazuello’s ministerial immunity, so as to protect him from being prosecuted for the ministry’s shortcomings during his 10-month tenure.

Pazuello notably faces investigation for failing to ensure oxygen supplies to the northern city of Manaus, where there were horrific scenes in January of Covid-19 patients suffocating to death when hospitals ran out.

Reports said Tuesday that Pazuello would be named to take over Brazil’s Program of Investment Partnerships, a government initiative to promote public-private infrastructure partnerships.

Brazil’s average daily Covid-19 death toll has more than tripled since the start of the year, to 2,306, currently the highest worldwide.

Experts say the surge is being fueled by a local variant of the virus that is suspected to be more contagious.

More than 295,000 people have died of Covid-19 in Brazil, second only to the United States.

Bolsonaro’s first two health ministers of the pandemic, Doctors Luiz Henrique Mandetta and Nelson Teich, both fell out with the president over his defiance of expert advice on containing the virus.


© Agence France-Presse