Brazil: Senate probes prez Bolsonaro’s alleged lobbying with Modi for HCQ

A Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry in Brazil is investigating its President Jair Bolsonaro government for ‘acts of commission and omission’ during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During the probe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name has also come up.

According to a report published in The Wire, the commission is investigating how Bolsonaro called Modi in behalf of two Brazilian companies for raw material for Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Although, HCQ is not proven beneficial for the treatment, it has been pushed by Bolsonaro as ‘preventive treatment’ for COVID-19.

The commission is also going to summon top executives of the Brazilian company Precisa Medicamentos. Precisa Medicamentos represents Bharat Biotech in Brazil.

On Thursday, O Globo newspaper published a part of the report that contains conversation between Bolsonaro and Modi. On April 4, 2020, Bolsonaro urged Modi to release raw material for HCQ for two Brazilian companies, EMS and Apsen.

On April 9, 2020, in an address to his nation, Bolsonaro said, “As an outcome of my direct conversation with Indian Prime Minister, we’ll receive, raw materials to continue our production of Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil”.

It may be mentioned that the owners of EMS and Apsen are the supporters of Bolsonaro. Now, the commission is looking into the fact that Bolsonaro ignored vaccine and focused on ‘preventive treatments’ like HCQ.