Economics
Bolsonaro Channels Trump and Rejects Quarantine Amid Virus
- President says jobs must be preserved in televised speech
- Banging of pots, pans heard in many cities as Bolsonaro speaks
Jair Bolsonaro gives a televised address from the Palacio do Planalto in Brasília, Brazil, on March 24.
Photographer: Isac Nobrega/Palacio do Planalto
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President Jair Bolsonaro followed Donald Trump’s playbook during a national address Tuesday night, urging Brazilians to resume normal life to protect the economy even as cases of coronavirus swell.
Defying medical advice to pursue social distancing, the Brazilian president also lashed out at Brazil’s state governors who have ordered shops and schools closed to slow down the pandemic that threatens to overwhelm the health system in Latin America’s largest nation.