There has been a certain rumor circulating for days -- which some say is "fake news" -- about the alleged deposition of the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro by the army, due to their discontent over his terrible management of the health crisis created by COVID-19.

Actually, they would find several reasons to go forward if this is the plan, since his government has failed to follow most the measures recommended by the scientific community to face the pandemic.  Bolsonaro has also expressed his narrow-minded opinions, showing his stupidity, ignorance and total disregard for the lives of others.

For example, he called the deadly COVID-19 virus nothing but a “little flu” -- a disease that has spread to 1 million 4 hundred thousand people in the world, killed about 80 thousand, paralyzed the economies of countries around the world, including the European Union and the United States.

Bolsonaro also showed disrespect for his fellow citizens when he said that Brazilians wouldn't catch the virus, because of their ability to dive into in sewers.  Then he went out into the streets to hug others who acted as irresponsibly as he did, even when health authorities around the world were advising people to stay home.

It is been rumored that, given the seriousness of the pandemic, the military high command appointed a team to lead the country and relegated Bolsonaro to insignificant tasks, at least until the emergency is over.

Whether this is true or not, it is quite significant that when everyone expected the resignation of the Health Minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, the most lucid speaker so far, who faced the president to clarify the disease, it's now known that he is still in charge and will continue to lead the fight against the virus.

Furthermore, the announcement was made by the Vice President, General Antônio Hamilton Mourão, who expressed bluntly that “Mandetta is still in the fight.  He stays.” 

This represents more than a denial to Bolsonaro, right after he stated last weekend that he was not afraid to “use the pen against the minister,” that is, to remove him from his position.

According to an analysis by the intellectual Emir Sader, the military doesn't really need to remove the president from power, inasmuch they have filled all the gaps that Bolsonaro caused with his chaotic performance, and led to the confrontation and disapproval of almost all sectors of the nation.

Sader says that “as Bolsonaro was losing support, even from his own supporters, the government was increasingly taken over by the military.  Today, they essentially run the government, while Bolsonaro is almost empty.”

This may imply a soft, virtual or a silent strike, we're not yet sure.  Someone will certainly put a name on it, but the fact is that this president not only opened the doors to the return of the wildest neoliberalism in Brazil, but also invoked the return of the army -- without the ballot or the bullet.