Brazil health minister wants drug lords on board in fight against Covid-19

Brazil’s health minister said Wednesday that officials should hold talks with drug gangs and militia groups in impoverished favela neighbourhoods on what is the way to hold the new coronavirus.

Brazil, the country hardest hit by the pandemic in Latin America, is supporting for potential devastation if large outbreaks erupt in its favelas, crowded neighbourhoods that always lack basic sanitation and health care infrastructure.

Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said the government had to be realistic about who holds power in many such neighbourhoods.

“We must understand that these are areas where the state is commonly absent and also the ones responsible are drug traffickers and militia groups,” he told a press conference.

“How can we build a bridge to them? By talking, yes, with drug traffickers, with militias, because they're human beings, too, and that they must help.” He said the authorities had just launched a pilot program in one favela on managing coronavirus risk but failed to say where.

An estimated 11.5 million Brazilians board favelas, around six per cent of the population.

They are numerous pictures of street battles between armed gangs and police.

Mondetta advocates strict social distancing measures to include the virus, in line with World Health Organization recommendations.

He has clashed along with his boss, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who argues that closing businesses and telling people to remain house are unnecessarily breaking the economy.

Brazil has confirmed nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases, with 800 deaths thus far.