"We demand a cure for Bolsonaro": a response from people living with HIV

"A person with HIV is an expense for everyone here in Brazil," Bolsonaro said.

February 11, 2020

By Mariana Iacono and Flavio Rapisardi*

Photos: MidiaNinja

“A person with HIV is a burden on everyone here in Brazil,” Bolsonaro said. A burden on Brazil is having a president who doesn't want to invest more in health, education, or jobs.

It is still surprising that the president of Brazil, a right-wing evangelical, is escalating his attacks against all those whom the book he claims to respect (the Bible) defines as subjects of Christian love. The comments of Bolsonaro, his sons, and various officials of this deplorable government are no longer surprising; what is truly concerning is the media's consensus of silence, lack of mobilization, and mild criticism.

Beyond the theological considerations that arise in Brazil itself from churches truly committed to the love and communion preached by Christianity (it's always worthwhile to read the Lutheran pastor and theologian Lusmarina Campos), we want to say something to this clown in power: the expense is you and your ineffective government, whose bad image is causing Brazil to lose markets; the expense is the corruption in which your government participates, such as paying Mr. Moro with a ministry for services rendered; the expense is your children who like to take pictures with rifles that we know aren't cheap; the expense is you and your policies that create poverty and take away rights, which will come back to you as a burden on the State in the form of increased tuition fees for education and public health; the expense is you when you attack one of the most precious things of that land: its cultural expressions; the expense is you, your loose tongue, and your small brain, which every time you use it (dysfunctionally) makes Brazil a less desirable destination for the millions of tourists who once vacationed in that beautiful land. The problem lies with you, Mr. Bolsonaro, because you are taking Brazil back to the times before Getúlio Vargas's government. True wealth always lies in the good we can do in the future, building upon our past.

We are not a burden on Brazil, nor did the PT corrupt us. Don't use us as an excuse for political persecution and the destruction of democracy. We existed before political parties. Is it too much to ask you to read a little history?

Brazil was a model for the entire region in access to HIV medication and in combating discrimination against people living with HIV. Since you became president, people with HIV in Brazil live in constant fear because they don't know if their lives are at risk . Yes, their lives. Because discrimination kills, and the destruction of public health condemns them to extermination . And know this, sir: there are people with HIV in your party too. Or do you, Jair, believe yourself to be above the law, both in terms of opinion and biology?

Jair Bolsonaro, you will go down in history as a huge waste because you are destroying Brazil, making it poorer, selling off its wealth, and turning public service into a cabaret for your stand-up comedy routines, all paid for with the tax money of every Brazilian. We are not afraid of you; there have been many like you throughout history, and they belong in the pantheon of the ridiculous and/or the ruthless.

Having a sexual abstinence program feels like we're traveling back three centuries; sexual desire isn't controlled by a government program .

We, the people with HIV from all over the region, we: women, trans people, transvestites, gays, sex workers, substance users, all the people you wish were not on the face of the earth, are constantly on alert to denounce to the world all the human rights violations that are happening in Brazil more than ever since you took over the presidency.

We demand a cure for HIV now. And we also demand a cure for Brazil.

*Mariana Iacono, a feminist, is the national coordinator of the Argentine community of women living with HIV (ICW Argentina). Flavio Rapisardi holds a PhD in Communication and is an activist for LGBT rights.

This article was originally published on MidiaNinja and is reproduced with the permission of its authors.

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