Bolsonaro lies about transfer to city with a high death rate by Covid-19 in Brazil

Paula Litaiff – From Cenarium Magazine

President Bolsonaro washed his hands of the chaotic situation in the largest capital of the Amazon with an explosion of cases of Covid-19 earlier this year and an increase in cases of infection, hospitalizations and deaths. Bolsonaro, insisting on the negationist speech in the face of the pandemic, declared two days ago, January 15, that “he had already done what he could for Amazonas”, referring to the R$ 8.9 billion in federal resources transferred by the Union to the State in 2020.

In consultation with the Federal Government’s Transparency Portal, a total of R $ 650.4 million has been registered to be used to provide care to patients infected with the new coronavirus in the capital and interior of the state. Of this amount, R$ 55 million was transferred directly to the City of Manaus and the difference to the government of Amazonas, through the State Health Fund (FES), equivalent to R$ 595.4 million.

Once again, the president lied. To escape responsibility for the pandemic, which in Amazonas even exhausted the capacity of gas companies to supply oxygen to hospitals, it tried to induce people to understand that the federal resource for Amazonas to deal with the pandemic remained.

The amount of R$ 595.4 million represents approximately 7.3% of the R$ 8.9 billion mentioned by the President of the Republic. The rest were mandatory transfers, provided for in the Constitution, which the Federal Government has a duty to make and, in some cases, even monthly.

These are funds from the State Participation Fund (FPE); the Municipality Participation Fund (FPM), which goes directly to the accounts of city halls; Fundeb, which contributes to the cost of basic education, as provided for in the Federal Constitution, among other types of law funding not only from the states but also from the municipalities.

While trying to create a reality that does not exist, to evade the responsibility to lead efforts for the nation to survive this new wave of the pandemic, the country returned to register an average of a thousand deaths per day caused by Covid-19. And vaccines, which could have already been approved for emergency use in Brazil, as they already occur in the United States, Europe, countries in the Middle East, and Asia, are still waiting for an answer from Anvisa.

Federal onlending division

Most of the R$ 8.91 billion transferred to the State and its municipalities, according to the Federal Government’s Transparency Portal, were in mandatory transfers, totaling R$ 5.612 billion. R$ 1.782 billion was sent to the State Participation Fund (FPE) and R$ 1.158 billion to the Municipality Participation Fund (FPM).

For education, R$ 712.8 million went directly to the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and the Valorization of Education Professionals (Fundeb). Another R$ 891 million in addition to Fundeb. And R $ 1.069 billion for financial assistance to states to promote exports.

In addition to the amounts provided for in the Constitution, the Union also transferred funds to various items, which add up to 37% of the global R$ 8.91 billion in 2020, and which totaled R$ 3.296 billion in the other item, as shown in the graph on the Transparency Portal managed by Federal Comptroller General (CGU).