Dear Friends,
The Covid-19 death toll in Brazil has reached 30 thousand. Meanwhile, the triple alliance of crises (health, economic and political) is advancing unfettered, under the auspices of our leaders and to the shivers and aggravation of the Brazilian people. Institutions struggle with one another. Justice has never been so “blind”, the Legislative branch advances with its lines in fiscal bombs, and the Executive, under the Commander in Chief, fails miserably to display any whisper of leadership. A sad moment in our history, which could have been used as an opportunity to make us more united and stronger, but which daily feeds back on itself and pushes us towards an outcome that, without a change in course, the three crises turns into social chaos.
The false dilemma between lives and livelihood does not seem to have been understood until now. Between the lockdown (supposedly total life protection) and no mobility restrictions (supposedly a functioning economy), we were unable to move with an adequate and efficient plan for each situation, given the heterogeneity of each city and state. We lack a unified plan and guideline (Covid-19 and GDP: a Life and Death Trade-off), but one that fits each branch and level of the federation. There is no single protocol for the proper cooperation, collaboration and communication between States and the Union – regardless of the due autonomy of States and Municipalities. This detachment promotes disorientation and, despite our best intentions and atomized plans, throws us into the ground of the imponderable process of trial and error.
