Covid-19 Pandemic Memorial project launched – 03/18/2024 – Sou Ciência

What is the purpose of a Memorial about one of the greatest tragedies in Brazilian history? To begin to answer this question, it is necessary to be clear that the pandemic was not a natural catastrophe or divine punishment: it was socially produced. It was a massacre, a crime against humanity, and even a genocide (once again, of the original peoples – but not only: the main victims were black and poor, elderly and vulnerable). The size of the catastrophe was also not just the result of denialism, ignorance or managerial incompetence (which undoubtedly existed). It was the result of a coordinated action, of a criminal web, public, parallel and private, of malicious disinformation, interested in political and economic gains, in macabre experiments and mass manipulation, in a perverse and fatal combination.

The pandemic exposed not only the long-standing structural and institutional inequalities and racism of Brazilian society, but also the project of death, or necropolitics, of the extreme right in running the country: a polarized nation, inflamed by hatred, misinformation, armament, religious fundamentalism, mafias and social and environmental predation. We have become a frightening territory of government decisions and their murderous partners going against the grain of science and history.

In Brazil, 4 times more people died than the world average. In other words, if management had been average and still supported by the SUS, with proper coordination and funding, we could have had 400,000 fewer deaths. But we have been transformed into a tragic laboratory of cruel human experiments. The policy of hate once again became a policy of death, of hybrid and biological warfare, victimizing above all those who were forced to continue exposing themselves to the virus. And we were experiencing combined attacks on democracy and life, in addition to neoliberalism boosted by labor and Social Security “reforms”. It is impressive that, to this day, there are those who believe in the effectiveness of chloroquine, in fraud at the polls, in the goodwill of rentiers and agribusiness, and that we are not experiencing an attempted coup d’état.

But the pandemic also showed another Brazil: one that fights fiercely for life, with solidarity, ethics and science. The catastrophe was not greater because we had (and still have) the Unified Health System, universal, widespread and free, as well as a long history of success in vaccination policy. We count on the heroic performance of the vast majority of health professionals, who acted to the limit of their strength (and losing lives) with ethics, commitment and following scientific evidence (including standing up to the Ministry of Health and some health departments and plans private companies that imposed the covid kit farce, among other absurdities). We count on public universities, even when attacked and with budget cuts, with their research centers and university hospitals acting on several fronts to guarantee life (see our panel with more than 1 thousand actions by Federal Universities). And we count on our public health institutes, which were also attacked and which were fundamental links in the defense of life, such as Fiocruz and Butantan.

Furthermore, we had an extraordinary mobilization of civil society, whether from a few valiant businesspeople, or from all popular movements, NGOs, communities and favelas, capturing donations, organizing support networks, solidarity kitchens, distributing basic food baskets, welcoming families of victims, also transmitting reliable information. The vast majority of the media, whether commercial or independent, provided an important front to stop misinformation and provide real-time testimony from scientists and doctors about what we were experiencing, the best conduct and precautions. And all these fronts also fought for democracy. They defeated the virus and the coup.

Gathered for two days in Brasília, managers from the Ministries of Health and Culture (yes, he’s back), historians, artists and scientists, social movements and organizations of victims’ families, debated at 6 thematic tables the objectives, purposes and principles for the creation of the Covid-19 Pandemic Memorial in Brazil, to be installed at the Centro Cultural da Saúde, in Rio, and with decentralized units in other regions of the country, in addition to a digital collection.

Let’s return, then, to the initial question: what is the purpose of a memorial about the greatest recent catastrophe in Brazilian history? Brazil is a country in which those in power selectively erase our memory voluntarily, either by preventing victims from having the right to memory and history, or by preventing access to documents and artifacts, which are repeatedly erased, tampered with, misplaced, lost. We lack a politics of memory, as a nation’s self-awareness in its trajectory. Telling the story of the pandemic will be an important exercise in memory in the face of trauma, state violence, which has been denied for other Brazilian tragedies. Therefore, it can inspire museums about indigenous genocide, slavery, brutal working conditions, massacres in the outskirts, etc.

But the Memorial is also a space to celebrate life, of all those who fought and are fighting for it. Of a people who know how to face tragedies, who resist, even against all adversity, who find the breath of life in their failures. “We for us” was the motto and attitude for millions – and also for those many health, science, research and assistance professionals, who acted courageously as always, but on an unprecedented scale and adversity, as warriors for life.

And, if nothing will bring back our lost family and friends, the Memorial is also a cry for justice and reparation. May the past government be taken to court for its attacks on democracy and coup attempts; but may it also be carried away by its attacks on life and the slaughter it caused. And not just the government: all those who participated in a macabre necro-system, including denialist doctors, health plans, influencers, etc. It is the courts of justice and history that will ensure that a catastrophe like this does not happen again.