In just a few weeks, the population in the slums (favelas) and urban peripheries of Rio de Janeiro has seen the State governor Wilson Witzel (of the conservative Social Christian Party) emerge on to the national political scene with some degree of common sense concerning the pandemic of Covid-19, that is, if compared to the position taken by Jair Bolsonaro. Contrary to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Brazilian President has been attending public events without any protection and downplaying the risks of the coronavirus, saying “it’s nothing but a little flu”.

The importance of the measures taken by the governor are undeniable. He has communicated to the population the health risks derived from COVID-19 and, then took legal measures to limit the traffic between the state’s countryside and metropolitan region. However, when we look at the cuts in state’s public budget, his disregard for the most vulnerable people who need social and basic income policies, particularly in the face of the health emergency, becomes clear.

Witzel considerably restricted the budget amid the pandemic, which directly affected social spending linked to housing and education. It is also worth noticing the contingency plan of R$7,6 billion made in the budget under the justification of the drop of oil prices and of the need of shift the budget to face Covid-19. The State Welfare Housing Fund, for example, also lost 29% of its budget, which could have been used to improve conditions in the slums. What is striking is that with the exception of health, the only sector not subject to budget cuts is Public Security (Military and Civil Police, Civil Defense, Firefighters and the “Police Present” Program). The decision of where to cut and where to invest budget is another example of the genocide policies of this government.

For people living in the favelas and the peripheries, such measures have already had direct consequences. The measures to contain the virus have already had a drastic impact on the livelihoods of communities composed mainly of black people, with limited access formal employment and getting by through work the service industry – which is generally precarious, intermittent and informal. One example is access to public transport. Using trains and travelling between cities now requires proof of formal employment. There was also a number of rights violations, as the train and bus stations were crowded and long lines formed, further exposing workers to the risk of infection. Another negative impact is the decrease of family income for residents of these areas that have been forced into quarantine because of state and municipal regulation, who have been forced into situation of extreme need. The pandemic, therefore, has made the most cruel aspects of living in a city as unequal as Rio de Janeiro visible: those who are left with the worst effects of Covid-19 are those who no longer have access to their rights.

No health, no water and “social isolation”

Long before the Covid-19 epidemic reached the favelas and peripheries, the health services in these areas were already in a precarious position. The neoliberal logic, which guides the management of public services, has dismantled Rio’s public health services, over the last few years. In its place, the so-called "Social Health Organizations" (SHO), which operate through a public-private partnership, have emerged. The poor quality of the health care offered by the Emergency Care Units (UPAS in its Portuguese acronym, Unidades de Pronto Atendimento) leaves no room for doubt.