President sanctioned law on National Day of Remembrance for victims and demanded criminal liability from federal management during the pandemic
The president (PT) said that the former federal deputy (PL-SP) is a “a fugitive who is in the United States trying to carry out a coup against Brazil”. The declaration was made this Monday (May 11, 2026), during the sanction of the law that establishes the National Day in Remembrance of the Victims of Covid-19.
Lula stated that the former president (PL) demonstrated “absolute ignorance” about the pandemic and should have listened to health experts.
Lula’s statement refers to the congressman’s stay in the United States since the trial for undemocratic acts on January 8, 2023. Eduardo left Brazil in 2025 and did not return to the country even after being summoned by the Chamber of Deputies.
The statement was made at the moment when Lula reproduced a speech by Jair Bolsonaro from December 2020 — given in an interview on Eduardo’s own YouTube channel —, in which the then president minimized the pandemic and questioned the rush for the vaccine.
Lula demanded public accountability from those involved in managing the health crisis. He said that without naming the culprits, they will be forgotten and will be able to roam the streets as if they had done nothing. He cited doctors who prescribed chloroquine, religious people who spread false information about vaccines and Bolsonaro’s own former health ministers.
The president stated that he always asked the minister (PT) for medical entities to open proceedings for crimes against humanity against Bolsonaro and the former Ministers of Health. “We cannot let it pass, otherwise it will be forgotten”he declared.
The sanctioned law establishes March 12th as the official date of tribute to the victims. The date marks the record of the first death from covid in Brazil, which has accumulated more than 716 thousand deaths from the disease.
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