Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is paying the price for defying local COVID restrictions while leading his nation through the pandemic. The government of São Paulo, the country's largest city, fined the “Trump of the Tropics” roughly $184,000 on Wednesday for failing to comply with the state's mask mandate at public appearances, including campaign stops during his 2022 reelection that attracted tens of thousands of supporters.
Breitbart's Frances Martel reports:
Bolsonaro, who served as president between 2018 and January of this year, regularly campaigned in São Paulo during the 2022 presidential election cycle, appearing at mass events such as rallies and motorcycle rides, shaking hands and showing his face. Under former Gov. Joao Doria, São Paulo imposed significant civil rights restrictions on residents and visitors during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, including mandating sanitary masks, limiting the right to assembly, and ultimately announcing a vaccine mandate.
Doria's policies prompted widespread “my body, my choice” protests in São Paulo. He and his center-left coalition lost to current conservative Gov. Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, who took office in January and has since banned vaccine passports and other mandates.
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While the São Paulo ordinances are no longer on the books, those facing legal repercussions for defying them when they were in vigor remain obligated to pay the fines incurred. Bolsonaro is among them. According to the conservative Brazilian outlet Jovem Pan, which cited Bolsonaro's attorneys, the former president paid 913,000 Brazilian reais (about $183,791.01) in fines on Wednesday for refusing to wear a mask regularly while in São Paulo. UOL, another Brazilian outlet, reported that Bolsonaro had appealed the fines but visited the São Paulo Court of Justice on Wednesday and handed over the money as the appeal is being processed. The former president will have his money refunded if he wins his appeal.
UOL reported that Bolsonaro currently owes over a million reais (nearly $220,000) in fines for failing to wear a mask at any time during 2020 and 2021. The Banco do Brasil, where Bolsonaro maintains some personal assets, had reportedly frozen his account at the behest of São Paulo over the unpaid fines; Bolsonaro reportedly had access to his account restored this week.
In June, the São Paulo Court of Justice ordered Banco do Brasil to close the account Bolsonaro opened in the United States following his electoral defeat. In response, Bolsonaro's allies started a crowdfunding campaign to help cover the cost of his legal fees. The former president announced to supporters weeks later that he had received enough money to cover the fines.
Brazil's system of government does not give the president the power to override state ordinances issued by governors. Bolsonaro first faced daily fines of $390 for violating Brasília's mask mandate in June 2020.
A month later, a photojournalist took a snapshot of the president shaking hands 24 hours after testing positive for coronavirus.
Bolsonaro dismissed his critics, when confronted by a reporter at the time.
“That Globo [Organizações Globo] is a sh*tty media [outlet]. You guys are a crap outlet. Shut up, you guys are bastards. You do bastard journalism that doesn't help at all,” he bellowed. “You don't help at all. You destroy the Brazilian family, you destroy Brazilian religion. You're useless.”
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A true man and hero. ¡Gracias a Dios!