The Bolsonaro Effect
What it means that a far-right fascist sympathizer is a leading candidate in Brazil's presidential election this Sunday.
A street vendor selling anti-Lula merchandise at a rally for Jair Bolsonaro on September 30, 2018. Editorial J / Flickr
Jair Bolsonaro is an unavoidable name in Brazilian politics nowadays. In fact, it has been for a few years. A few days before election day on October 7, the most recent polls indicate that Bolsonaro is now the leading candidate in the presidential race, followed by Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party (PT).
Bolsonaro’s political language is hatred. He often calls for the annihilation of the Left. A few days after talking about shooting PT supporters with a machine gun at a campaign rally, a man stabbed him in the stomach. As the situation in Brazil escalates, and the possibility of Bolsonaro becoming president increases, it’s important to understand more about the far-right candidate.
The “Protest Vote”
Jair Bolsonaro is a former military officer from the small Social Liberal Party (PSL) and now serves as a federal congressman. He is a far-right politician who combines liberal economic positions with inflammatory declarations against human rights. He is an anticommunist and an apologist for the dictatorship’s use of torture. His public security motto is “a good criminal is a dead criminal.” When it comes to economics, he defers to neoliberal economist Paulo Guedes, who he’s tapped to head economic policy in a Bolsonaro government.
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