March 10, 2021. Near São Paulo, left-wing ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is speaking publicly for the first time, following the overturning of all his court convictions. The tribune of the left then gives a river speech, in a fiery tone, torpedoing the attitude of Jair Bolsonaro in the face of Covid-19. Suddenly, Lula pauses and gravely wonders: ” But where is Zé Gotinha? Where has our dear Zé Gotinha gone? “ Zé Gotinha? Literally “Joe the droplet”, in French.
Behind this intriguing surname hides a sympathetic character, a little white man, round and smiling, the head in the shape of a drop and the torso stamped with a blue cross. Beloved by the general public, a real star among children, Zé Gotinha has served for more than thirty years as a mascot for the national vaccination program, and has even become, over time, the very symbol of SUS, the public health system. Brazilian.
Crazy theories have circulated
But now, Zé Gotinha has disappeared! A shame, in the middle of a pandemic. The white man should logically have been the star of the current vaccination campaign. But his last big public appearance was in December 2020. And since then the craziest theories had circulated online: is the “Droplet” unemployed? On holiday ? Would she have been kidnapped by thugs?
“Bolsonaro fired him because he thinks he’s a member of the Workers’ Party!” », Indignant the former president Lula
The answer is more prosaic: the mascot is quite simply one of the new victims of the Brazilian president. ” Bolsonaro fired him because he thinks he is a member of the Workers’ Party! Lula said indignantly in his speech. In fact, the current president is an assumed antivaccine that does not carry Zé Gotinha in his heart. For months, the head of state has repeatedly blocked the organization of an immunization campaign in Brazil.
The vaccine, he said, could indeed cause “Death, disability and anomaly”. The last meeting between Zé Gotinha and Bolsonaro, on December 16, 2020, was also very cold. That day, the Head of State finally launched an immunization plan against Covid-19. The white mascot is there. Jair Bolsonaro, all smiles (and unmasked), walks towards her, warmly offers her a hand to shake … that Zé Gotinha (or rather, the human being who hides under the mascot) ostensibly refuses in order to respect the barrier gestures . Bolsonaro gives the change, hilarious, and poses alongside the “Droplet”. But, deep down, the president is enraged.
You have 54.7% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.