Brazil’s Health Minister Won’t Quit After Clash With Bolsonaro

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said he will stay put in his job for now, despite coming under fire from President Jair Bolsonaro for his handling of the coronavirus crisis.

“I’m not bothered by the criticism,” he told reporters on Monday evening outside the health ministry in Brasilia. “But I’m bothered when the criticism is intended to make the work environment more difficult.”

His remarks capped a dramatic few days during which pressure mounted for the minister to step down. Earlier on Monday, O Globo newspaper reported that Bolsonaro had decided to fire him, and would publish his decision in the official gazette by the end of the day.

While Mandetta has encouraged Brazilians to adopt the World Health Organization’s guidance on social distancing and self-quarantining, Bolsonaro has said such a response will destroy the economy and do more harm to the population than the virus itself. The president has repeatedly mingled with crowds while expressing his discontent about his minister’s guidance, telling one radio show last week that he had “gone too far” and “lacked humility.”

The relationship between the two has deteriorated just as the pandemic heads toward a peak in Brazil. Mandetta’s departure would allow Bolsonaro to select a more like-minded minister who could reduce social distancing measures in Brazil at a critical moment.

“A doctor doesn’t abandon the patient,” Mandetta said, “and I won’t abandon the country right now.”

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