Igor Sacramento 260 2. Bolsonaro: the testimony of a body cured by hydroxychloroquine Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has mobilized credible and legitimating ar- guments to promote chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as potential solutions to the questions, anxieties, and fears of the population. In this way, in the first post about the drug on his official Facebook page, on March 21, 2020, he published a video informing that “[t]he professionals at Hospital Albert Einstein informed me that they started the research protocol to evalu- ate the effectiveness of chloroquine8.” The news of the “possible cure for COVID-19 patients 9” conveyed by the person who holds the credentials of president of the Republic enjoys certain privi- leges and includes presumptions of truth inherent to the position held. As the holder of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces credentials, in the same video under analysis, Bolsonaro also announced the decision, taken together with the minister of Defense, of expanding the production of the drug by the chemi- cal and pharmaceutical laboratory of the Army. On the same day, he published a second post in which he assured the population that “this is what we call precaution. The drug is cheap, and if it proves to be effective in the fight against COVID-19, we will be prepared to serve all Brazilians quickly,” reiterating that “even if the drug tests are ineffective in the specific treatment of the coronavirus, it has already proven effective in combating other types of disease such as malaria, being included in the updated epidemiological surveillance guide.” Finally, with the support that his credentials give him, he justifies the investment in the 8 Available at https://bit.ly/2RvwB1W. Acessed on: July 23, 2020. 9 We note that, just over four months after the president’s publication, on July 23, the research conducted by the coalition led by the main Brazilian hospitals - Albert Einstein, HCor, Sírio-Libanês, Moinhos de Vento, Oswaldo Cruz, and Beneficência Portuguesa - as well as the Brazilian Clinical Research Insti- tute (BCRI) and the Brazilian Intensive Care Research Network (BRICNet) announced that “among hospitalized patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, the use of hydroxychloroquine, alone or with azithromycin, did not improve the clinical status in 15 days compared to standard care.” Available at https://bit. ly/3klB83n. Accessed on July 28, 2020.
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