Antonio Silvio K.L. Freitas, Master of Political Science (PPGCP / UFPI). Specialization in the field of literature and cultural studies (UESPI). Research in the direction of “Democracy, Political Behavior and Citizenship”. Contacts: [email protected]

Isadora Leal Carvalho, Master of Political Science (PPGCP / UFPI). Public and Private Law Specialist (UFPI) in partnership with the Piauí State Graduate School of Justice (ESMEPI). Email: [email protected].

More than a year after the pandemic, the side effects of the health crisis are being felt around the world. In the case of Brazil, the situation was very serious. In addition to unemployment and hunger, there is a third problem: the political crisis.

The global pandemic has already claimed the lives of 4,886,917 million people. According to Johns Hopkins University, Brazil has already surpassed 600,000 deaths, hitting 405,000 in 2021 alone, making it the second largest country in the world in terms of total deaths.[i]…

2020 has been a daunting year for the global economy. But 2021 still raises concerns, despite optimism about vaccination progress and the near full resumption of most economic and social action. For the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), in its September 2021 report, it lowers growth expectations by highlighting the “inequality” of growth globally in the face of the covid-19 crisis. The projections for Brazil, according to the OECD, are below the global average.

In Brazil, the current economic scenario is very complex. Unemployment still affects about 13.7% of the population, that is, about 14.1 million people are looking for work. In addition, a long-standing fear of inflation has plagued most Brazilians, who remain out of control and have already reached an accumulated high of 7.02%, and in 12 months – 10.05%, surpassing the double-digit mark.[ii]… The ups and downs of the economy hit unevenly not only in the center, but also more sharply in the peripheral economies.

However, we have another problem that most of the world does not have: the political crisis. This takes us to another level, it is not a double crisis, but a triple one.[iii]… If the negative effects on the economy are a by-product of the first crisis, imagine a third problem that attacks our low immunity.

It is not just a matter of governance or coordination and planning in tackling the health crisis and economic fallout.[iv]… But a coercive project that, based on unrealistic assumptions, has led to an institutional crisis and desperate attempts to pull the rope of a democratic rupture.

This goes far beyond the radical denial of the extreme right and is stimulated by the government itself in an almost official manner, but it is a confrontation without “rational discourse” about the institutions and other forces that make up the Brazilian Republic. From digital militias going through the planned attack on the STF, the unnecessary waste of energy (now needed) on the legitimacy of the ballot boxes and the TSE itself, to what I consider the peak of this crisis, which was an attempt at a democratic divide fueled by government support, radicals to moderate. with material and symbolic funding from the president of the republic.

However, feeling “shaky firmness”[v] institutions, the disagreement of a significant part of the country’s political, economic and military elite, in addition to a strong signal from the market, which does not remember the 3% drop in Ibovespa after the head of state’s attacks on the most democratic system in Brasilia and on Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo.

The government itself negotiated a truce after retreating from what some called a coup and others called freedom actions, in an attempt to appease its own “counter-coup” or “last four-line attempt” to rule.

So we know that the world is also in crisis, but we are facing much more than that, we have a triple crisis in Brazil. Perhaps the rest of the world will quickly get out of this, and the Brazilian will face very difficult years.

As the thinker William Ward would say, “During a storm, the pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects him to change. The realist is adjusting the sails. ” Thus, it is impossible to weather a storm simply by expecting it to change overnight. We must be realistic, have the courage to meet face to face and, if necessary, adjust to the sails. Facing the sea without a compass is a great danger.

Notes (edit)

[i] GLOBAL MAP Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) COVID-19 Dashboard. Coranavirus Resource Center – Johns Hopkins University and Medicine. Available at: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html. Date of access: 15.10.2021.

[ii] IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) – Dashboard. Available at: https://www.ibge.gov.br/indicadores#desemprego. Date of access: 19.10.2021.

[iii] In other words, as Thomas W. Conti’s text The Triple Covid-19 Crisis: An Economic Perspective on Public Policies for the Pandemic, which analyzes the context and possible consequences of the Covid-19 Triple Crisis, is understood as behavioral, sanitary and economic. However, the focus here is on the Brazilian context, in particular the political crisis and its impact not only on institutional relations, but also on its aspects of the country’s economic and social policy. I suggest reading Thomas W. Conti. The Covid-19 Triple Crisis: An Economic Look at Public Policies to Combat the Pandemic. Version 1.1 – April 6, 2020 Available at: http://thomasvconti.com.br/pubs/coronavirus/. Date of treatment 10/19/2021.

[iv] For a broader and more consistent understanding of the subject, we offer an article on how leaders confront a pandemic in five countries in Latin America, and which, in the specific case of Brazil, is consulted by researchers Magna Inacio of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. ; Martha Mendes of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora; and Luciana Santana, Doctor of Political Science and Professor at the Federal University of Alagoas (Ufal). From the outset, the authors emphasize: “The deliberate inaction of the federal executive and the lack of coordination at the federal level has placed the country among the worst performing countries in the face of the pandemic” (INACIO et al., 2021, p. 230). Inacio, M.M., Cesetti, D., Welp, Y., Campos, M., Lopez Garcia, A.I., Chenoni, L.L., Santana, L., Mendes da Rocha, M., and Tumelero, A. (2021). ¿Tiempos de prueba o poniendo a prueba a los presidores? COVID-19 challenges Latin American leaders. IBERO AMERICAN. Latin America – Spain – Portugal, 21 (76), 203-239. https://doi.org/10.18441/ibam.21.2021.76.203-239. Available at: https://journals.iai.spk-berlin.de/index.php/iberoamericana/article/view/2826. Date of access: 10/22/2021.

[v] The idea of ​​”shaky stability” may seem paradoxical, but the meaning used here refers to the fact that, despite the crisis, the institutions themselves function in the light of their “formal concept” from the point of view based on the analysis of Rubens R. R. Kasar. However, political actors somehow overlook and / or retreat in terms of “substance and substance” in defense of democratic institutions, which ultimately leads to what I consider to be “shaky toughness.” I suggest reading: KASARA, Rubens R.R. Post-democratic state: neo-obscurantism and the management of unwanted elements. Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian Civilization, 2017.