Jair Bolsonaro
Photographer: Evaristo SA / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Evaristo SA / AFP / Getty Images
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s approval rating has risen amid rising coronavirus deaths and confusion over a national vaccination plan.
The Mercurial leader, who mocked his masks and echoed unfounded theories about the virus expressed by former US President Donald Trump, saw his personal support fall to 26% on Friday, from 37% in a previous poll published on January 14, according to a survey conducted by IDEIA and published in the Brazilian business magazine Exame. Its disapproval rating rose to 45% over the same period.
A the second poll released on Friday by DataFolha found that Bolsonaro’s approval rating was 31% compared to 37% in December, while the disapproval rating rose to 40% from 32% over the same period.
Criticism at home and abroad is growing in connection with the mismanagement of the pandemic by his government as health care systems in the city of Amazon in Manaus collapses and the nation’s economic recovery loses steam. Friday, Bolsonaro said there was no scientific evidence for vaccines. On the same day, two prominent indigenous leaders sought to accuse the president of his policies in the Amazon rainforest.
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Such levels of discontent have not been seen since the middle of last year, when the pandemic overwhelmed hospitals and forced blockades across the country.
IDEIA surveyed 1,200 Brazilians across the country on January 18-21, with a margin of error of about 3%. DataFolha interviewed 2,030 people across Brazil on January 19-20, with a margin of error of about 2%.
The results reflect the results of the XP / Ipespe survey, which recorded a six percentage point drop in Bolsonaro’s popularity to 32% this month as cash transfers expired.
As another sign of unpopularity, the two indigenous leaders have called on the International Criminal Court to investigate Bolsonaro, accusing him of unprecedented environmental damage, killings and persecution.
William Bourdon, a Paris-based lawyer, has applied to the British newspaper The Guardian for a preliminary examination in a court in The Hague, the Netherlands reported.
– With the assistance of Martha Viotti Beck
(Updates with the DataFolha survey in the third paragraph and the Bolsonaro ICC fee in the last paragraph.)