Bolsonaro Lauds Protesters Taking to Streets Despite Virus Risk
5h ago
Sabrina Valle, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro applauded a series of pro-government, anti-Congress protests around the country on Sunday, three days after suggesting they would be canceled due the risk of coronavirus spread.
Bolsonaro joined a demonstration in Brasilia. In a live broadcast on social media, he distributed more than a dozen fist bumps to supporters outside of the presidential palace, protected behind two parallel waist-high grids.
The president, who tested negative to the virus this week after potentially being exposed by a staff member, also threw a hat to supporters and grabbed a Brazilian flag from the group packed behind the grids.
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“This is not a protest against institutions, this is a protest pro-Brazil,” he said.
The president posted videos on his Facebook and Twitter pages featuring supporters who ignored health authorities’ recommendations of social distancing and instead gathered in different cities, including Rio de Janeiro, Belem, Maceio and Juiz de Fora.
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https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/bolsonaro-lauds-protesters-taking-to-streets-despite-virus-risk-1.1406420