A small group of demonstrators waited at the hotel entrance for the Brazilian president, who came to the U.S. without being vaccinated against COVID-19.
"Without vaccination, without obeying the rules of the city, putting civil servants and diplomats' lives at risk, and lying at the UN as usual (...)," reads a message from the Committee for the Defense of Democracy in Brazil, which organized the protest.
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The president's entourage - composed of 18 people, among them several of his ministers, his wife Michelle and Eduardo, one of his five children - entered through the hotel's back door.
Unlike last year, when the ultra-rightist entered through the main entrance, none of his followers were waiting to welcome him.
On Tuesday, as has been the tradition since 1955, the Brazilian president will deliver the inaugural speech at the UN General Assembly. The fact that he has not been vaccinated, as required by the New York authorities, cast doubt on his participation in the event.
"'Genocidal': protest causes Bolsonaro to enter through the back of a hotel in New York. President avoided contact with some anti-government demonstrators who were waiting with banners at the hotel door. There were no Bolsonaro supporters on site."
However, last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced that heads of state were excluded from the mandatory immunization requirement.
The Brazilian Minister of Tourism, Gilson Machado Neto, published a photo of Bolsonaro and several of his ministers eating pizza on the street in New York.
Since August 16, the authorities of this city have been demanding proof of vaccination against COVID-19 from all those who want to enter closed places such as restaurants, cinemas, or theaters.
This will be the third speech the ultra-right-winger will give before the UN since he assumed power on January 1, 2019, but now he does so with his popularity in free fall. According to a recently published survey, 53% of those interviewed consider Bolsonaro's government "lousy," the worst percentage recorded in his entire term in office.