Bolsonaro et la covid-19 au Brésil : réflexions autour d’un double paradoxe

After the unexpected arrival of far-right Jair Bolsonaro at the top of the state, his catastrophic handling of the covid-19 health and economic crisis has brought new surprises. Brazil, one of the worst affected countries, appears to be unable to control the spread of the virus. Beyond its tragic consequences, the government's reaction to the pandemic is characterized by a double paradox that we intend to highlight. On the one hand, on the health side, the president has adopted a negationist attitude and denies the seriousness of the country's epidemiological situation. While the virus rages with redoubled acuity with the second wave, he persists, contributing to increase the health toll, to which his own supporters pay a heavy price. On the other hand, on the economic front, the establishment of an emergency cash transfer program for the poorest categories, especially informal workers, has given rise to a second paradox. How a government violently opposed to any form of redistribution could have been at the origin of this Auxílio emergencial, an interventionist policy on a scale unmatched in Latin America or in the country's history. These apparent contradictions lead us to offer elements of interpretation of the strategy of a president under threat of multiple impeachment procedures, who plays his political survival day by day.