Events in the year 2021 in Brazil.
Incumbents Federal government President: Jair Bolsonaro Vice President: Hamilton Mourão
Governors Acre: Gladson Cameli Alagoas: Renan Filho Amapa: Waldez Góes Amazonas: Wilson Lima Bahia: Rui Costa Ceará: Camilo Santana Espírito Santo: Renato Casagrande Goiás: Ronaldo Caiado Maranhão: Flávio Dino Mato Grosso: Mauro Mendes Mato Grosso do Sul: Reinaldo Azambuja Minas Gerais: Romeu Zema Pará: Helder Barbalho Paraíba: João Azevêdo Paraná: Ratinho Júnior Pernambuco: Paulo Câmara Piauí: Wellington Dias Rio de Janeiro: Wilson Witzel (until 30 April) Cláudio Castro (from 30 April) Rio Grande do Norte: Fátima Bezerra Rio Grande do Sul: Eduardo Leite Rondônia: Marcos Rocha Roraima: Antonio Denarium Santa Catarina: Carlos Moisés São Paulo: João Doria Sergipe: Belivaldo Chagas Tocantins: Mauro Carlesse
Vice governors Acre: Wherles Fernandes da Rocha Alagoas: José Luciano Barbosa da Silva Amapá: Jaime Domingues Nunes Amazonas: Carlos Alberto Souza de Almeida Filho Bahia: João Leão Ceará: Izolda Cela Espírito Santo: Jacqueline Moraes da Silva Goiás: Lincoln Graziane Pereira da Rocha Maranhão: Carlos Brandão Mato Grosso: Otaviano Pivetta Mato Grosso do Sul: Murilo Zauith Minas Gerais: Paulo Brant Pará: Lúcio Dutra Vale (until 26 April) Vacant (from 26 April) Paraíba: Lígia Feliciano Paraná: Darci Piana Pernambuco: Luciana Barbosa de Oliveira Santos Piaui: Regina Sousa Rio de Janeiro: Cláudio Castro (until 30 April) Vacant (from 30 April) Rio Grande do Norte: Antenor Roberto Rio Grande do Sul: Ranolfo Vieira Júnior Rondônia: José Atílio Salazar Martins Roraima: Frutuoso Lins Cavalcante Neto Santa Catarina: Daniela Cristina Reinehr São Paulo: Rodrigo Garcia Sergipe: Eliane Aquino Custódio Tocantins: Wanderlei Barbosa
Events
January January 1: Mayors and councilors elected in 2020 take office in more than 5,000 Brazilian municipalities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the ceremonies were broadcast without guests. January 6: The first case of the Gamma Variant of SARS-CoV-2, also known as the Manaus variant, is detected in four people who arrived in Tokyo after visiting the Amazonas region of Brazil four days prior. January 7: The São Paulo state government and the Butantan Institute release the calendar of the State Immunization Plan against COVID-19. The chronogram, to start on January 25, initially serves some risk groups: health professionals, indigenous people, quilombolas, and individuals aged between 60 and 75 years or older. January 12: Ford Motor Company announces it is closing three plants and laying off 5,000 workers in Brazil. January 17: The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) unanimously approves requests for the emergency use of the vaccines CoronaVac (produced by the Butantan Institute in partnership with the Chinese laboratory Sinovac) and AstraZeneca (produced by the University of Oxford with Fiocruz). A nurse named Mônica Calazans, an employee of the Emílio Ribas Institute of Infectious Diseases, receives the first dose of CoronaVac in the country. January 21: Tendencias Consultoria, a consultant company focused on the economy, warns of food shortages in isolated areas, particularly in the favelas and quilombos, as the government ends emergency aid. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes announces via social media, the cancellation of the 2021 Carnival in Rio de Janeiro due to the coronavirus pandemic. Paes justified it, stating that holding the festivities requires great preparation on the part of public bodies, groups, and institutions linked to samba and that it's impossible to do at this time. In another statement, the Independent League of Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro agreed with the decision and clarified that the samba school parades in Marquês de Sapucaí, which is postponed until the month of July, would only be held with the arrival of the vaccine and release from authorities. January 24: A small plane carrying some part of the Palmas Futebol e Regatas delegation crashes shortly after takeoff in Palmas, Tocantins, killing four footballers, the club's president, and the pilot. January 26: The Supreme Federal Court approves an investigation into the government's handling of the pandemic in Manaus. January 28: 400 religious leaders, including Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists, demand the impeachment of President Bolsonaro for mismanagement of the pandemic. There are another 60 such demands pending in the Chamber of Deputies.
February February 1: Operation Car Wash ends with 174 convictions in Brazil, 12 current or former presidents implicated across Latin America, and $790 million returned to Brazil's public coffers, with nearly $2.8 billion more on the way. Rodrigo Pacheco (DEM/ MG) is elected president of the Federal Senate. Arthur Lira (PP/ AL) is elected president of the Chamber of Deputies. February 4: Vale S.A. agrees to pay 37.7 billion reals ($7.03 billion) to settle the January 2019 Brumadinho dam disaster, where 270 people died. February 10: The traditional Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is canceled with strict warnings against clandestine celebrations. February 12: São Paulo City Hall announces the cancellation of the 2021 carnival in the city, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Celebrations are initially postponed to take place between May and July. February 16: Federal deputy Daniel Silveira (PSL/RJ) is arrested, by decision of Minister of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, after publishing a video on social media insulting and threatening court ministers. February 19: President Bolsonaro prevents a truckers′ strike by agreeing to a two-month delay on federal tariffs on diesel fuel. The last male member of the Juma people dies of COVID-19. February 20: Three videos broadcast by Telemundo, show elderly people in Petrópolis and Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, being injected by empty syringes rather than with the COVID-19 vaccine. February 22: Stock prices of Petrobras fall 21%, as investors worry that the appointment of General Joaquim Silva e Luna as head of the company means that economic decisions will be made based on politics. February 25: The Health Minister admits he mistakenly sent 76,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines destined for Amazonas state (population 4,000,000) to Amapá municipality (population 9,000). The two places are apart. February 26: The death toll in Brazil, due to the COVID-19 pandemic surpasses 250,000; second-highest in the world.
March March 2: The number of COVID-19 deaths in a single day reaches a new high of 1,641. March 4: The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimate that the Brazilian economy shrank by 4.1% in 2020, less than original estimates of 8%-9%. This would be the worst performance in decades. March 8: A child named Henry Borel is murdered in Barra da Tijuca, inside the apartment of his mother Monique Medeiros and his stepfather Jairo Souza, a councilor and doctor. Both are suspected of having caused his death. Edson Fachin, a judge from the Brazilian Supreme Court, nullifies all convictions of former president (2003-2010) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in relation to Operation Car Wash. This restores his civil rights and making it possible for him to run for president in 2022. March 10: The number of COVID-19 deaths in a single day reaches a new high of 2,349. March 15: The Ministry of Health confirms the purchase of 138 million doses of the Sputnik, Pfizer and Janssen vaccines by the end of the year to combat COVID-19. President Jair Bolsonaro changes health minister for the fourth time, as cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga replaces Eduardo Pazuello in office. March 15-30: São Paulo suspends all religious and sporting activities, as the health services are overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases. March 16: A new record of 24-hour COVID-19 deaths is recorded in the country, with 2,340. March 23: Brazil records 3,251 deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours, a new record. Marcelo Queiroga becomes the fourth Health Minister in the last year. The Second Panel of the STF decides, by 3 votes to 2, that former judge Sergio Moro acted partially when convicting former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the case of the Guarujá triplex. March 24: Brazil surpasses the mark of 300,000 deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. March 26: Brazil once again breaks its own record and records 3,600 deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours. In an interview with Der Spiegel, former president Lula calls the COVID-19 pandemic the “biggest genocide” in Brazil's history. March 29 According to the Minister of Communications, six ministers are relieved of their jobs, including Foreign Relations (Ernesto Araújo), Defense (Fernando Azevedo e Silva), Justice and Public Security (André Mendonça), Chief of Staff (Walter Souza Braga Netto), and Attorney General (José Levi do Amaral). According to reports from O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo, military commanders Edson Leal Pujol (army), Ilques Barbosa Junior (navy), and Antonio Carlos Moretti Bermudez (air force) meet to discuss their possible resignations. March 30: In a move considered unprecedented, following the dismissal of Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva the previous day, President Jair Bolsonaro precedes the resignation requests and dismisses the three heads of the Brazilian Armed Forces: Edson Leal Pujol (Army), Antonio Carlos Moretti Bermudez (Airforce), and Ilques Barbosa Junior (Navy).
April April 1: Grupo Globo announces the sale of the Som Livre label to Sony Music Entertainment for $255 million USD. April 13: The Federal Senate opens a CPI (Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito) to investigate federal government spending and omissions in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. April 20: Subtropical storm Potira forms. April 27: The COVID-19 CPI (Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito) is officially installed in the Federal Senate, with the objective of investigating alleged omissions and irregularities in the Brazilian federal government's expenditures during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. April 29: Brazil reaches the 400,000 mark of deaths from COVID-19. April 30: The impeachment of Rio de Janeiro governor Wilson Witzel is unanimously approved, after being accused of irregularities in the hiring of field hospitals to combat the coronavirus pandemic . The former judge will have his political rights suspended for 5 years and the acting governor, Cláudio Castro, will take over the position permanently.
May May 4: An 18-year-old man armed with a knife and dagger, invades a daycare center in the municipality of Saudades (SC); killing three children and two teachers. May 6: An operation against drug trafficking by the Civil Police leaves at least 28 dead and 2 injured in the Jacarezinho neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro. May 28: The Ministry of Health authorizes vaccination against COVID-19 for people over the age of 18 across the country. May 29: Protests against the Bolsonaro administration take place in various parts of the country. There is also a record of a protests by Brazilian citizens in Paris. May 31: CONMEBOL announces that the 2021 Copa America will be hosted in Brazil.
June June 9: Protests break out in Lins de Vasconcelos after Afro-Brazilian influencer Kathlen Romeu is killed by a stray bullet in a police shootout. A manhunt begins for serial killer Lázaro Barbosa, who killed a family in the rural area of Ceilândia, in the Federal District. The task force brought together around 200 men from the Civil Police, Military Police, Federal Highway Police, and the Military Firefighters Corps. June 11: Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest increases by 67%. President Bolsonaro has not followed through on his April pledge to boost funding for environmental enforcement.