Brasilia (AFP)

It is by deploying all his talents as a balancing act that the Minister of Health Luiz Henrique Mandetta, an experienced doctor, was able to gain the confidence of Brazilians worried about the coronavirus, in the face of a President Bolsonaro who is putting a stick in his wheels.

The head of state, who has continued to minimize the pandemic, has just criticized him for his "lack of humility", without daring to dismiss him "in the middle of a war" against the pandemic.

Little followed by his government, Jair Bolsonaro seems visibly embarrassed to see a minister embody the voice of reason in the face of his anti-containment speech, contrary to the recommendations of the WHO and which shocks many Brazilians.

Two months ago, when Brazil was in the midst of carnival preparations and cared little for the advancement of the Covid-19 in China, Luiz Henrique Mandetta already warned that the virus would arrive sooner or later and that the immense country must be prepare for "extremely hard" times.

Since then, the pandemic has killed nearly 300 people in Brazil and this 55-year-old orthopedic surgeon has stayed the course, with his calm voice and his blue vest which gives him the air of a man in the field.

This apparent serenity has been constantly tested by untimely declarations by Jair Bolsonaro, who until recent days has called the coronavirus "small flu".

- "Not irreplaceable" -

Last week, the day after a presidential speech harshly criticizing the containment measures taken by the governors of most states, Mr. Mandetta had seemed to side with the president, referring to a "hasty and disorderly quarantine".

But in recent days, the minister has not hesitated to advocate "the maximum social distancing".

"I am only based on scientific criteria. Some are based on political criteria, which are important too. Let them do it, they don't bother me," he said on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of the week, the daily press point at the Ministry of Health has been relocated to the Presidential Palace of Planalto, with the head of the Civil House (equivalent of a Prime Minister) Walter Braga Netto, a general with a handle, the controls.

On several occasions, the latter did not hesitate to whisper in the ears of the ministers or to pass little words to them on pieces of paper before they answered the embarrassing questions of journalists.

But that did not stop Mandetta's popularity from skyrocketing, with 76% of favorable opinions in a poll published Friday by the Datafolha institute, against 55% last week. That of Bolsonaro fell slightly (33%, against 35%).

Thursday evening, during an interview on radio Jovem Pan, the far-right president assured that he did not want to "dismiss (Mandetta) in the middle of the war". But he stressed that no minister was "irreplaceable".

"He should listen more to his president, he lacks a bit of humility," he added.

On Friday, the President of the Chamber of Deputies Rodrigo Maia said that Bolsonaro did not "have the courage" to dismiss his minister, who has the "patience and balance" necessary to face the crisis.

- "Faithful squire" -

Born in Campo Grande, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (center-west), Luiz Henrique Mandetta began his career in a military hospital and held many leadership positions in public health, especially in his hometown .

He rose to the rank of minister in early 2019, after two terms of deputy (2011-2018), under the colors of the center-right party DEM.

It was in Parliament in Brasilia that he got to know Jair Bolsonaro, also a member of parliament, with whom he opposed Dilma Rousseff's left government (2011-2016), criticizing in particular his program allowing Cuban doctors to practice at Brazil to make up for the lack of health professionals in poor regions.

"Mandetta was a loyal squire of Bolsonaro, he actively participated in his campaign and in the development of his government program", explains Thiago Vidal, of the consulting firm Prospectiva.

"The problem is that today, the minister's technical speech conflicts with the political speech of Bolsonaro, who does not like to be overshadowed," he concluded.

© 2020 AFP