Hunger Haunts Millions in Brazil as Billionaires Roll in Cash Amid COVID Pandemic The hunger index in Brazil has risen to its highest point since 2004. The number of people starving has doubled since 2018, the year Brazil elected far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro as president. A member of a group of residents of Chapeu Mangueira, sprays alcohol on the hands of a homeless person as she delivers him food during the coronavirus outbreak at Copabacana beach at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, April 11, 2020. Photo: Reuters World1 hour ago Sao Paulo:Â Few comforting figures come out of Brazil these days. The numbers about daily infections and deaths caused by COVID-19 bring despair every evening. Data released last week shows how badly the country has been battered. But it is not about the damage done by the virus. It is about poverty and hunger.