LatAm in Focus: How Is the Coronavirus Changing Brazil?

In the second segment, Tai Nalon, creator of fact-checking website Aos Fatos, says the pandemic affects a complex media landscape in which 120 million Brazilians use platforms such as Whatsapp and increasingly consume news through social media. Nalon explains how this scenario has evolved since 2018, when she was last featured in the podcast, given that Bolsonaro's base has established a solid architecture that supports his skepticism about the virus and spreads misinformation online. Since February, Aos Fatos has debunked more than 300 pieces of misinformation: 100 fact-checks about the coronavirus specifically and several more on authorities’ statements about the virus. For her, the problem goes beyond social media platforms’ responsibility. “We thought that it would be easier to navigate this crisis with more support from readers,” she says, but “sometimes people only want to hear what they want.” The Amazon fires were already a major crisis until last year, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, deforestation has worsened, says Maria Antonia Tigre, an environmental attorney and doctoral candidate at PACE University’s Elizabeth Haub School of Law. Tigre was previously featured in a September 2019 podcast. She says that with Amazon monitoring decreasing, illegal loggers and miners are taking advantage of the situation, with deforestation rates shooting up since last year. On top of that, Tigre says that investment in the green economy might decrease globally, while in Brazil, bids for this year have already been cancelled. On the other hand, the crisis has moved environmental talks toward a conversation about controlling future diseases. Tigre says, “The argument that lots of scholars and diplomats are making is that if we actually reduce deforestation rates and protect the environment further, we can avoid pandemics like this happening in the future.”

New to the podcast? Check out past episodes of Latin America in Focus and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Stitcher.

• Where is the coronavirus in Latin America? Check our map with confirmed cases in the region and how governments are responding to the crisis.

Luisa Leme produced this episode. The music in this podcast was performed at Americas Society in New York. Learn more about upcoming concerts at musicoftheamericas.org.