Following the surprise March 8 annulment of his corruption convictions, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave a political comeback speech on March 10 in which he lambasted current President Jair Bolsonaro for his chaotic response to the coronavirus pandemic. The same day, Brazilians were greeted with a strange about-face: Bolsonaro, known for refusing to wear a mask and downplaying the impact of the virus, appeared with a mask on. His son Flávio Bolsonaro, who had often dismissed the virus in the past, asked his social media followers to share a post featuring an image of his father that read, “Our weapon is the vaccine.” It was an astonishing turnaround for a president who had proudly affirmed that he would not be vaccinated.
