Brazil Awaits New Health Minister Pick as Virus Cases Spiral

(Bloomberg) --

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro held back from replacing his health minister Sunday, instead joining supporters who marched in front of the presidential palace as the coronavirus crisis deepened.

Bolsonaro showed up with ministers to follow the rally, local media reported. He didn’t talk to journalists.

The country is waiting for an announcement following Nelson Teich’s resignation Friday after just 29 days on the job as health minister. He had taken over the post in April after Bolsonaro fired his predecessor amid public discord over social distancing.

The exit fanned political tensions as the country overtook Spain as the nation with the world’s fourth-highest number of confirmed cases. Latin America’s biggest nation trails only the U.S., Russia and U.K., becoming a new global hotspot for the disease.

The country has 241,080 cases and 16,118 deaths so far, according to government data released on Sunday. On Friday, the nation reported a record number of daily cases.

Political Turmoil

Adding to the political imbroglio, Folha de S. Paulo reported on Sunday the Federal Police tipped off Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the president’s oldest son, that they would open investigations into his former aide Fabricio Queiroz before the probe was made public. Queiroz was investigated for suspicious financial transactions.

The accusation was made by Paulo Marinho, a businessman who is Flavio Bolsonaro’s substitute in the Senate, meaning he is slated to fill the seat if vacated. The senator said in a note the information was invented by Marinho, who is “desperate” to take his post.

Marinho said on a tweet he decided to disclose the information to collaborate with the investigations into the president, who was accused of interfering with the federal police by his former Justice Minister Sergio Moro. Valor Economico newspaper reported the general prosecutor’s office is considering taking Marinho’s testimony as part of the probe into the leader.

Brazil has the world’s worst-performing stock market and currency. The benchmark Ibovespa index’s 54% decline in U.S. dollar terms is the biggest slide among key indexes globally, and the real slumped 31%.

With most Brazilians backing social distancing guidelines, Bolsonaro’s popularity is suffering, according to a MDA/CNT poll that interviewed 2,002 people May 7-10. The survey showed the president’s personal approval rating dropping 9 percentage points from the beginning of the year to 39%, and his disapproval rating hitting 55%.

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