They also have backup: 25 of Brazil’s 27 governors signed a joint letter this week begging Bolsonaro to back strict anti-virus measures. Bolsonaro, a Trump devotee, said he has watched his U.S. counterpart speak about the virus in recent days and found their perspectives rather aligned. Bolsonaro says his two tests for the virus came back negative, but he has refused to publish his results. Bolsonaro returned to a hard line of denial Tuesday in an address to the nation. “It’s a very high-risk, tremendous gamble for Bolsonaro and probably it won’t work,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank.

Source: International New York Times March 28, 2020 16:35 UTC