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Brazilian senators have voted to recommend charging President Jair Bolsonaro over his handling of the devastating Covid pandemic.

A Senate panel backed a report calling for charges against Mr Bolsonaro including crimes against humanity, after 600,000 deaths from coronavirus.

The president has maintained he is "guilty of absolutely nothing" but the crisis has dented his popularity.

Brazil's death toll is second only to that of the United States.

There is no guarantee the vote will lead to actual criminal charges, as the report's recommendations must now be assessed by Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras, who is expected to protect the president.

The report alleges that Mr Bolsonaro's government pursued a policy of allowing coronavirus to rip through the country in the hope of achieving herd immunity.

It describes the president as "the main person responsible for the errors committed by the federal government during the pandemic".

Latin America political analyst Thiago de Aragao in Washington DC – who is director of strategy at Arko Advice - considers Mr Bolsonaro's political future:

"We have three different types of charges," he tells us, "criminal charges, crimes of responsibility and crimes against humanity."

"What we can expect is this will corner President Bolsonaro for many months, especially when we enter the electoral period next year."

(Pic: President Jair Bolsonaro; Credit: Reuters)

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