When Vinicius “Maka” Basilio Castro calls home, he tries not to let his mother know he’s worried.
“When we talk by phone, we relax, and we know each other is safe. I tell her jokes and I try to not say, ‘I’m on the other side of the planet’,” the 36-year-old tells SBS News from Melbourne.
But his 62-year-old mother, and his family, live in Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, and Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro is doing nothing to protect them, he says.
For Brazil’s 200 million people, the coronavirus pandemic threatens to expose the effects of systemic poverty and its government's incompetence. Stringent hygiene measures have been impossible to implement for the poorest in society.
Melbourne-based Maka, top left, with his wife, brother, and mother who lives in Brazil. Source: Supplied
In Rocinha, up to 200,000 people live on a mountainous landscape of only 0.8 square miles. Calculating exact population numbers is a problem and something that's impacting health experts. Officially, there are more than 240,000 cases of COVID-19 across Brazil and more than 16,000 people have died.
Within the densely populated neighbourhoods, sanitation is a problem and social distancing an impossibility.
“They don’t have space, so it is everybody on top of each other,” says Maka, who lives with his wife and three-and-a-half-year-old son Zeus.
“If people don’t have jobs, they don’t have money, so they have to go to the bank [to line up for government support].”
But there are 55 million people living in poverty in Brazil and the relief offered isn’t enough for many to stop working, meaning buses remain overcrowded.
Rocinha is the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro. Source: Supplied
It worries Maka. His mum needs regular medical treatment for kidney problems but risks catching the virus by attending hospital appointments.
President Bolsonaro has been encouraging people to go back to work. He has previously dismissed COVID-19 as “just a little flu” and released a video claiming “work, unity, and the truth will set Brazil free”.
But with two health ministers gone in a month and the resignation of the justice minister, he is looking increasingly unfit to rule, says Luis Bogliolo, a Brazilian lawyer and doctoral researcher at Melbourne Law School who was formerly part of the Brazilian Ministry of Culture.
He describes the president, a right-wing former military officer, as “terrifying, absolutely incompetent, and incapable of governing. What worries me the most is that the government has lost any capability to coordinate policy. I think his government is breaking down”.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro lifts up a child during a rally with supporters on Sunday. Source: AAP, EFE
Médecins Sans Frontières have also accused the president of poor leadership and spreading misinformation, while Mr Bogliolo cites crashing approval ratings and recent decisions taken by congress against him.
Mr Bolsonaro has also been compared to US President Donald Trump.
“A month ago, he met with Trump and came back with 25 people who tested positive. He was also tested. The results weren’t released,” Mr Bogliolo says.
“He has been photographed around Brasilia going into shops, touching people, shaking their hands. So, when it comes to his actions, I think you could say he’s worse than Trump because he’s actively working to cause a graver problem.”
Mr Bolsonaro has criticised quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the virus, saying the economy should be prioritised and businesses across Brazil should reopen.
Mr Bolsonaro says reopening businesses should be Brazil's priority. Source: AAP
On Sunday he joined an anti-lockdown protest in Brasilia, posing for photos and telling the crowd, "We hope to be free of this question soon, for the good of all of us … Brazil will come back stronger".
The middle class in Brazil can opt out of high-risk activity such as queuing for cash handouts or taking public transport, says Juliana Lobo, a PhD student in Melbourne.
Her mother Rita, 72, lives in Natal, a north-eastern city in Brazil with relatively low infection rates, but she still worries about her.
“It makes me feel sad,” the 41-year-old says. “My mother is retired, but very active. She has friends and lots of relatives in our town, but she cannot see them. She’s able to purchase things online and she has private health. Basically, she’s just locked into her apartment.”
Juliana is one of more than 27,000 Brazilian-born migrants in Australia. She is pictured with her mother Rita, who lives in Brazil, and son Liam as a baby. Source: Supplied
The disruption to family visits is also impacting Juliana as this is her first year as a solo parent to four-year-old Liam.
“We try to see each other every year, and this time she was coming for three months,” Juliana says.
“My son was so excited, we were setting up the bedroom, and then COVID hit.”
Worried about the risk of her mother travelling through various airports to get to Melbourne, and that Australia might refuse her entry, Juliana cancelled her ticket. Now she doesn't know when she will see her again.
When Liam asks when his grandmother will visit, Juliana tries to encourage patience.
"I tell him that he has to look at the trees, wait for their leaves to fall off. It’s winter, and when you start seeing little flowers coming, it’s spring, and perhaps she’ll come," she says.
"He asks every day ‘Is it already spring?’"
As they wait, Juliana makes the most of the bonding time with her son and does what she can for others. She has donated money to help new Brazilian migrants affected by the hospitality shut down in Australia.
Maka can't wait to be reunited with his mother again. Source: Supplied
Mr Bogliolio follows the news and worries about the state of his home country, while Maka, like all of them, dreams of reuniting with his family.
How soon will he book a ticket home to see his mother when it’s safe to travel? “Zap!” he says, snapping his fingers. “Like that.”
Fernanda Fain-Binda is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. She studied Latin American Studies at University College London and has Brazilian and Argentinian family.
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