Bolsonaro
Brazil is Latin Americas largest country, and largest economy, yet is suffering an economic crisis never before seen on the Southern American continent.
With COVID-19 now placing Brazil second only after the US in terms of infections, with well over one million, can the Brazilian economy cope with the pressure?
But has the economy slumped because the actions of just one man? The Brazilian President, Jair Bolsanaro was a leading voice in the anti-lockdown measures in his own country, but it seems his actions have returned to haunt him.
But for others, the lack of income, the desire to get back to opening their businesses means that they are fully behind the actions of Bolsanaro in opposing the closing of shops, restaurants and other places of business.
Brazil has taken the second spot in the list of countries affected by COVID-19, with figures of infected people exceeding 1.1 million, with sadly over 50,000 succumbing to the disease. With a daily death rate of over 1,000 people, many fear that with a population of over 200 million, the true figures could be much worse.
With a GDP of just over two Trillion Dollars, Brazil is the worlds 8th largest economy, with commodities such as the service sector, industry and agriculture being major contributors, but current events have led to a 1.5% drop in GDP for the first quarter, with the World Bank suggesting this could fall to around 5% by the end of the year.
When we break down the GDP figures in Brazil, we can see why the impact of COVID-19 is having such a wide effect on the people, as the Service Industry, which employs most of the workforce, accounts for some 67% of the GDP, the industrial sector comes in second with 27.5% and agriculture, 5.5%, all of which are very human orientated sectors, and hence why the situation is dire for Bolsanaro.
Brazil could face "economic collapse" in a month's time due to stay-at-home measures to stem the coronavirus outbreak, with food shortages and "social disorder," Economy Minister Paulo Guedes warned.
Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy, is also the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the region. But far-right President Jair Bolsonaro -- who appeared alongside Guedes, his free-market economics guru -- opposes stay-at-home measures to slow the virus, saying they are unnecessarily damaging the economy.
Hamas kills several Israeli soldiers in 'fierce fighting' in south Gaza
VIDEO | Israel: Women as sex objects
IRGC chief: Iran will hit any point used to target its interests
Security chief: Iran's red lines clear, everything depends on US behavior
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Palestinians in Sinjil struggle for survival amid Israeli policies
Macron hosts Syria's de facto president and ex-Qaeda leader at Elysee
Hezbollah chief: Resistance will continue until final victory
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
