“A Small Beginning of Justice”: Bolsonaro’s Arrest Brings Vindication to Brazilians Who Lost Loved Ones to COVID-19

By Eléonore Hughes

Simone Guimarães, a 52-year-old retired teacher from Rio de Janeiro, lost at least five family members to COVID-19: her husband, her sister, two brothers-in-law and the godfather of her grandchild. She also buried friends and neighbors. On Saturday she woke to news that Brazil’s Supreme Court had ordered the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro — a development she links emotionally to the losses her family endured.

A judge said Bolsonaro was believed to be preparing to flee days before he was due to begin a 27-year prison term for attempting to overturn the 2022 presidential election. For Guimarães and many others who lost loved ones during the pandemic, the move felt like a first measure of accountability, even though the legal case that produced the arrest concerns actions around the election rather than decisions made during the pandemic.

“It’s a small beginning of justice starting to be served,” Guimarães said. “Impunity has to end at some point. And in his case, we endured a lot.”

Grief, anger and a search for accountability

Social media filled with posts remembering people who died of COVID-19 — an outpouring that echoed reactions when the Supreme Court issued convictions in September. Many survivors say the conviction and arrest provide an emotional vindication: a moral relief that eases some of the pain, though it does not address the countless individual tragedies of the pandemic.

“I would have preferred that he was arrested for allowing 700,000 Brazilians to die, many deaths that could have been avoided, perhaps by speeding up the vaccine rollout,” said Diego Orsi, a 41-year-old translator in São Paulo. “But since he is being tried and convicted for other crimes, it cleanses our soul. It gives us a sense that justice has been served.”

Brazil has reported more than 700,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 since 2020 — the world’s second-highest toll after the United States. In 2021, researchers at the Federal University of Pelotas estimated that roughly four out of five of those deaths could have been avoided if the federal government had supported containment measures and moved faster to secure vaccine supplies and accelerate immunization.

Personal stories of loss

Orsi’s grief is intensely personal. He grew up alongside his cousin Henrique Cavalari; they were like brothers. As they matured, their politics diverged: Orsi became progressive while Cavalari embraced Bolsonaro’s right-leaning views. Cavalari ran a motorcycle repair shop and could not afford to stay closed. He and many like him attended rallies during the pandemic’s deadliest months. In June 2021, thousands of supporters rode motorcycles through São Paulo; Cavalari died of COVID-19 complications that same month at 41.

“He was newly married, paying rent on his business. He needed the money,” Orsi recalled. Orsi could not visit his cousin in the intensive care unit because only immediate family was allowed. He was told one of Cavalari’s last warnings to his parents was to take the disease seriously.

Similarly, Fábio de Maria, a 45-year-old teacher in São Paulo, lost his father in May 2021 when the man was about 15 days away from being eligible for his first vaccine dose. “That delay was fatal for him and many others,” de Maria said. He blames Bolsonaro and officials he believes were complicit, but added that the former president’s conviction does not bring full justice for pandemic victims because it was not tied to those specific losses.

Political consequences and ongoing inquiries

Observers say Bolsonaro’s denialist stance during the pandemic and repeated public dismissals of mitigation measures damaged his standing and helped shape the 2022 election outcome. Campaign ads replayed footage of Bolsonaro mimicking patients gasping for air and highlighted comments widely seen as dismissive of victims.

As the president resisted nationwide public-health measures, state and local governments imposed their own rules. The Supreme Court ultimately affirmed that subnational authorities could enact distancing, quarantines and other sanitary measures — a turning point that weakened Bolsonaro’s control and heightened his clashes with institutions.

In October 2021, a Senate committee recommended charging Bolsonaro over pandemic-era actions and omissions, listing offenses including charlatanism, incitement, misuse of public funds and crimes against humanity. That inquiry remained largely dormant until September, when Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino ordered an expansion of the investigation. That case remains active and sealed.

Bolsonaro denied wrongdoing throughout his trial. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal from his legal team; another appeal may be filed. Before his arrest, he had been under house arrest since August.

What the arrest means to survivors

For many Brazilians who lost relatives to COVID-19, Saturday’s arrest reinforced a sense that powerful figures can be held accountable — even if survivors say the legal reckoning still falls short of addressing the pandemic’s full toll. Families remain divided over politics and memory, and several interviewees expressed concern that convictions related to the coup attempt could overshadow or delay a complete investigation into pandemic-era policies and responsibility.

“I’m afraid convictions for one set of crimes will lessen focus on others,” Orsi said. “But for many of us, this moment simply brings a small measure of emotional closure.”