Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, is under investigation by the country’s Federal Police in connection with the alleged falsification of COVID-19 vaccine cards. Bolsonaro’s residence was searched by the police, and several other locations were raided in connection with the case. The police have seized Bolsonaro’s phone; half a dozen other individuals have also been detained.
Bolsonaro has previously been criticized for spreading misinformation about the pandemic and the vaccine. Local media reported that vaccine cards belonging to Bolsonaro, his family members, and advisors were altered. The investigation centers on documents that were allegedly changed to comply with U.S. vaccine requirements to enter the country. The former president denies any wrongdoing.
Arrests made in Rio de Janeiro in vaccine data fraud case
The Federal Police said in a statement that they were carrying out 16 searches and six arrests in Rio de Janeiro related to the fraudulent data introduced into the nation’s health system. The statement did not name Bolsonaro or any of his allies. Fabio Wajngarten, Bolsonaro’s former lawyer confirmed that a military police officer and Bolsonaro’s adviser, Max Guilherme, was arrested and had already given his statement to investigators. Mauro Cid, an army lieutenant colonel, who has been Bolsonaro’s right-hand man, reportedly refused to talk to officials.
The investigation raises questions about whether falsified vaccine information was used in the documentation of any of the former president’s entourage during his trips to the U.S. between November 2021 and December 2022. During this time, non-citizens were generally required to be fully vaccinated to enter the U.S. Bolsonaro visited the U.S. at least thrice during this period.
Mounting Legal Problems for Bolsonaro
Bolsonaro is also the subject of several other investigations in Brazil. He has been questioned twice in the past month by the Federal Police in Brasilia about separate matters, and he is also facing multiple investigations by Brazil‘s electoral court, threatening to strip him of his political rights and render him unable to run for office in upcoming elections. Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing in any of the investigations.
The former president has been accused of receiving three sets of diamond jewelry from Saudi Arabia and failing to declare them as official gifts to the Brazilian presidency or paying taxes to bring them into the country as private gifts. Bolsonaro is also facing a sprawling Supreme Court-led investigation regarding the spread of alleged falsehoods and disinformation during his term as president. Additionally a federal police investigation into the suspected genocide of Indigenous Yanomami residents of the Amazon rainforest by inciting illegal gold miners to invade their area and threaten their lives.
Bolsonaro spent months sowing doubt about the efficacy of the vaccine and refused to get vaccinated himself. He insisted that the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine was a treatment for COVID-19, despite a lack of robust medical evidence. At one point, he addressed Brazilians stating that anyone experiencing irreparable side effects would have minimal legal recourse against Pfizer. He also linked the vaccine to AIDS, an assertion that has been widely debunked.
Ideological agendas behind altered vaccine cards
The allegations of fraudulently altered vaccine cards are the latest legal problem for Bolsonaro. The investigation into the case involves alterations related to “ideological agendas” meant to “sustain the discourse aimed at attacking the vaccine against COVID-19,” according to the police statement.
The latest development in the investigation highlights Bolsonaro’s declining political fortunes, as his credibility is being questioned by the Brazilian people, who are becoming increasingly disillusioned with his leadership. The investigations into Bolsonaro’s alleged misconduct are likely to have far-reaching implications for Brazilian politics and the country’s democratic institutions.
D-19, vaccine fraud, investigation, Federal Police, Rio de Janeiro, U.S., legal problems, electoral court, Supreme Court, disinformation, Indigenous Yanomami, hydroxychloroquine, Pfizer, AIDS, ideological agendas.
