Special Commentary:

COVID-19 and Brazil: Why the US-Brazil 

Relationship Matters More Than Ever

August 12, 2020 | Dr. José de Arimatéia da Cruz, PhD/MPH

The global pandemic known as the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has 

been wreaking havoc upon the world since it was first detected in Wuhan, China, at the end of 

December 2019. The disease rapidly spread to all provinces in China, as well as a number of 

countries overseas, and was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by 

the Director-General of the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. The Congressional 

Research Service (CRS) contends that the COVID-19 pandemic is having widespread economic, 

social, and political effects on Latin America and the Caribbean, a region with strong economic 

and political ties to the United States. Brazil has been particularly hit hard by COVID-19. It has 

become a global epicenter for the disease with the second most COVID-19 positive cases in the 

world after the United States. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro announced July 8, 2020, that he 

had contracted the virus.

The total number of deaths resulting from COVID-19 in Brazil has reached over one 

hundred thousand and the number of Brazilians infected has reached over 3.1 million. The rate 

of infections in Brazil continues to rise daily. The high rate of infection in Brazil is the result of 

several factors, including a poorly funded public health system, an overreliance on the public 

health system (thus placing the system under immense strain), and poor overall infrastructure. 

However, the most important factor behind the current situation is the government’s failure to 

take actions early on that were necessary to address the pandemic. In fact, government officials 

downplayed the disease when it first arrived in Brazil, calling it a gripizinha (little flu). 

Government leaders also discouraged social distancing practices necessary to prevent the 

proliferation of the virus. Further, government officials downplayed the risks of the virus even 

after nearly fifty thousand deaths from COVID-19 in three months, saying the impact of social 

isolation measures on the economy could be worse than the disease itself. Brazil’s government is 

also responsible for exacerbating the proliferation of the pandemic with confusing and 

contradictory messaging. Some in the government criticized social distancing and flooded social 

media platforms with misinformation about the virus. Others in the government touted the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19, despite several studies questioning 
the credibility of such claims. Also, during the brunt of the pandemic in Brazil, the Ministry of 

Health has not had stable leadership. This continual transition in leadership has left the 

ministry without a clear plan of action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brazil’s inability to set a responsible health policy to combat COVID-19 is having a 

tremendous impact on Brazil’s most vulnerable population: the residents of favelas

(shantytowns). Brazil’s favelados live under the most desperate circumstances imaginable. Most 

favelas are controlled by gangs or milicianos. Sanitization, electricity, and garbage collection is 

sometimes nonexistent, thus contributing to the spread of diseases that have otherwise been 

eradicated around the world. Brazil is a country plagued by deep inequality, resulting in the 

pandemic hitting poor communities the hardest. In Rio de Janeiro, the virus has swept through 

favelas with lethal force, aided by a lack of running water, poor sanitation, and cramped 

housing. Self-isolation has been impossible for many residents who work in the informal sector

cleaning homes or delivering food. Given the federal government’s inability to enforce curfews, 

criminal syndicates have stepped in to enforce them in Rio’s favelas. In response to the COVID19 pandemic and fears of it spreading through these densely populated favelas, local gangs and 

militias are imposing social controls in the form of curfews to limit the spread of the disease. 

Numerous reports have cited the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) gang specifically and

their imposition of a coronavirus curfew in the Cidade de Deus (City of God) favela.

Brazil’s indigenous population has also been impacted by COVID-19. Despite the 

alarming death rate among the indigenous population, there is little assistance on the horizon. 

In 1988, the Brazilian government discouraged contacts with the Amazon’s indigenous 

population except in cases to prevent medical emergencies, warfare between tribes, or other 

catastrophes. In an effort to assist the indigenous population with COVID-19, Brazil's Congress 

passed an emergency plan for indigenous communities that would not only provide medical 

equipment and field hospitals but also potable water and food supplies that allow tribes to 

isolate themselves. But this plan still needs to be approved by the senate and get a green light 

from the president. An additional problem contributing to the high rate of infection among the 

indigenous Brazilian population is deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon region. 

Deforestation and forest fires have led many of the indigenous population to move to urban 

centers where they can end up in precarious living conditions with few public services. This only 

increases their vulnerability to health dangers, especially COVID-19.

Brazil, once heralded as an example to follow when it came to promoting global equality 

in health-care access, especially with the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, today is 

diplomatically isolated as the pandemic rages due to the country’s lack of infrastructure, 

reduced credibility, and uneven leadership. The federal government’s handling of the pandemic 

has done much to injure Brazil’s international stature in the field of health. The Brazilian 

government has disregarded the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 recommendations, 

threatened to pull out of the World Health Organization, and attempted to halt the publication 

of cumulative data of documented COVID-19 cases.
For many Latin American countries, Brazil has become an unreliable partner. They 

perceive that Brazil has given up regional leadership and now even right-wing governments are 

keeping a safe distance from Brazil’s diplomatic disruptions. With Brazil becoming the new 

epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic—and failing to act in response—its stature has further 

eroded. Paraguay and Uruguay have both closed their borders with Brazil in order to slow the 

spread of the coronavirus into their territory. The current socioeconomic and diplomatic 

challenges facing Venezuela in light of the COVID-19 pandemic have also stretched an already 

strained relationship between Brazil and Venezuela. With a heavy influx of Venezuelan migrants 

into Brazil’s State of Roraina, Venezuelan migrants are being blamed for several crimes 

committed there and are increasingly facing xenophobia related discrimination.

Whether through naïveté or diplomatic hubris, Brazil seems to discount the realities of 

the international system of the twenty-first century. The post-Cold War world is more globalized 

and deeply interdependent than ever. What happens halfway around the world eventually has 

domestic implications, and the COVID-19 pandemic is a good example of this. Brazil cannot 

continue to go it alone. It will need the broader scientific community and the support of key 

partners to combat this deadly virus. 

The US Army can play an important role in this battle against the COVID-19 pandemic 

and ought to do everything within its capability to support Brazil’s fight against this deadly 

pandemic. In Brazil, where testing is scarce and the health system is overwhelmed, the US Army 

could partner with the Brazilian Armed Forces not only to avoid the contagion effect on the 

continent, but also to assist in other areas under strain such as the Amazon region and states in 

Brazil’s North East region. This support is critical. Brazil is a “monster country” in Latin 

America, according to George Kennan in his book Around the Cragged Hill: A Personal and 

Political Philosophy. Whatever happens in Brazil will have a ripple effect in other countries of 

the region. Brazil’s ability to combat this pandemic head on could have long-term effects for the 

region and in the relationship between Brazil and the United States. For example, due to 

COVID-19, the US government has barred the entry of Brazilians into the United States unless 

they are permanent residents. The European Union (EU) has opened its doors to several 

countries where COVID-19 has been under control or the rate of infection has diminished. But, 

Brazil’s infected rate is still extremely high and its citizens are still denied entrance into EU

countries as a result. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had previously forecasted a rate of 1.6% 

economic growth for the region prior to the pandemic. The IMF has since revised its projections

and now forecasts an economic contraction of 9.4% for the region with almost every country in 

recession. This economic decline and recession will exacerbate income inequality and poverty 

throughout the region. This could create an influx of immigrants into the United States taking 

advantage of porous borders. For Brazilians who have lost hope in their government, they may

be encouraged to migrate to the United States as the health care systems collapses and the 

government loses its legitimacy and ability to respond to the pandemic. Weak governments can 

create fertile ground for organized criminal gangs to terrorize the population and drive even 
more people to desperately flee into the United States. Such immigration would contribute to 

the further spread of COVID. The US Army can help to prevent an influx of immigrants into the 

United States from Brazil and elsewhere by coordinating stronger border security measures and 

by assisting the exchange of information about COVID-19 hotspots. The US Army, in the spirit 

of cooperation and partnership with Brazil, can prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic. 

Doing so can slow or prevent COVID-19 from further spreading to the United States.

The sudden economic downturn and increasing private and public debt due to the 

COVID-19 outbreak has combined with the strain on people, businesses, and governments to 

create a fertile ground for criminogenic asymmetries—a condition in which inequalities and gaps 

between the legitimate and illegitimate provision of scarce public goods leads to group 

grievances that feed violent movements. As Richard Hass contends in his book, The World: A 

Brief Introduction, health-related costs and crises can turn a strong, successful society into a 

weak and dysfunctional one. The US Army should help Brazil fight corruption and criminality 

during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interaction between various Criminal Armed Groups 

(CAGs—criminal cartels, gangs, militias, and mafias) is complex and historically has varied by 

time and place. The arrival of COVID-19 has exacerbated a number of socio-political trends that 

further undermine the government’s authority and legitimacy. These include corruption, poor 

governance, absence of the rule of law, nationalism, xenophobia, and attacks on the traditional 

institutions of good governance. Furthermore, terrorists, rebels, and insurgents (both political 

and criminal) are likely to exploit the pandemic to further their goals. The US Army should help 

Brazil to build upon humanitarian initiatives as a means of stabilizing communities and 

reducing criminal violence. The success of these efforts—for all participants—remains to be 

seen. 

The US Army should also assist Brazil during the pandemic by helping to strengthen

Brazil’s nascent democracy. The US Army’s stance as an apolitical organization subordinate to 

civilian authority and its public communications tools could greatly bolster Brazil’s efforts to 

grow its own democratic institutions. According to a "parasite stress" hypothesis, authoritarian 

governments are more common where disease is more prevalent. Increases in authoritarian 

practices will further weaken democratic institutions, politicize judicial systems, increase 

corruption, and lead to an increase in the rate of crime and violence. Brazil cannot afford to 

reverse the democratic gains of the past three decades. Authoritarianism or bureaucratic 

authoritarianism is not the panacea for Brazil’s public health crisis. Authoritarian leaders do not 

advance their countries but instead lead them into war, famine, and humanitarian crises. Brazil 

is a peace-loving nation. Brazil shares with the United States its adherence to a free, open, and 

prosperous society. If humanity intends to reverse authoritarianism, research and history have 

shown us that it means we have to defeat infectious disease. 

In conclusion, the US Army should assist Brazil by sharing information of the ongoing 

illicit activities in the region, training the region’s militaries in public health response and 

epidemiology, and strengthening Brazil’s democratic institutions. The US Army can also use the 

full force of the Army’s Public Health Center (APHC) to assist Brazil while enhancing its global 
health diplomacy. As the APHC states on its website, their mission is to enhance Army readiness 

by identifying and assessing current and emerging health threats, developing and 

communicating public health solutions, and assuring the quality and effectiveness of the Army's 

Public Health Enterprise. The US Army, in the spirit of cooperation and partnership with Brazil, 

can prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic. Doing so can slow or prevent COVID-19 from 

further spreading. The ultimate goal of the US Army as it supports Brazil is to enhance 

collaboration in the spirt of cooperation and equality among nations. This will create a postpandemic world that is more secure, prosperous, and democratic in the Western Hemisphere for 

both the United States and Brazil. 

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The views expressed in this Special Commentary piece are those of the author and do not 

necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department 

of Defense, or the US Government. This article is cleared for public release; distribution is 

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