Outsourcing Repression
Bolsonaro doesn't need an open military dictatorship to crush his opponents. As the "Colombian model" demonstrates, he can lean on violent paramilitaries to do the dirty work for him.
347 Search Results for: bolsonaro
Lula Comes Home
Lula’s release will not change the course of Brazilian politics by itself. But the leftist leader has already said his time in prison further radicalized him — and that can only bode well for the popular movement resisting Bolsonaro’s reactionary politics.
Glenn Greenwald Is Innocent
The Bolsonaro government’s attack on Glenn Greenwald is an attack on free speech and democracy. We should unequivocally stand by his side.
Far-Right “Landlordism” Wants to Dispossess Entire Populations
From Israel to Brazil, violent far-right forces have taken up the language of “landlords” defending their threatened property. Their war on the dispossessed is built on a simple claim: we own this country, you only live here.
Lula’s Return Could Save Brazilian Democracy
With former Brazilian president Lula da Silva now eligible to run in next year’s election, Jair Bolsonaro’s grip on power is looking weaker than ever before. Amid the tide of reaction, Lula’s return means there is finally some hope for democracy and social justice in Brazil.
The Return of Lula Is Cause for Celebration
The case against former Brazilian president Lula da Silva is over and fully discredited. Now the path is clear for Lula to take on Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing government and save Brazilian democracy.
Paulo Freire’s Ideas Are Just as Powerful Today as Ever
Socialist educator Paulo Freire was born one hundred years ago today in the Brazilian city of Recife. A longtime comrade of Freire, leading Marxist pedagogue Peter McLaren writes about how his life and work remain deeply relevant today.
Lula’s Former Press Secretary on the Meaning of Lulismo
Today, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva can return to power and build a more equitable and prosperous Brazil. Former Lula press secretary André Singer spoke to Jacobin about what’s possible in power and the enduring appeal of Lulismo.
If US Democratic Socialists Want a Religious Left Revival, We Should Look to Brazil
The key to Lula’s success with religious voters is offering them respect without pandering to them. Lula artfully refrains from instrumentalizing religion and refuses to be instrumentalized by it.
Fascisms Old and New
The rise of Bolsonaro in Brazil, Trump in the US, and the far right throughout Europe has the word “fascism” on everyone’s lips. But that rising Right is distinct from twentieth-century fascism in key ways.
Lula Is Innocent. Free Him Now.
The evidence is now overwhelming — Lula was the victim of a politically motivated campaign to keep him from returning to power. He must be freed.
Belém’s Left-Wing Mayor Could Have a Winning Formula for the Brazilian Left
Last November, left candidate Edmilson Rodrigues defeated a Bolsonaro ally to become mayor of Belém in the Brazilian Amazon. The Belém experiment could be a chance to push back against a destructive far-right government that grossly mismanaged the pandemic.
The US Should Learn From Brazil and Actually Punish Its Coup Plotters
The riots in Brazil have drawn Jan. 6 comparisons, but they’re even more reminiscent of a different episode: the Bolivian coup that liberals misguidedly backed. Another big difference from Jan. 6: Brazil is actually prosecuting its high-level coup plotters.
Lula Knows How to Fight the Far Right. We Should Listen.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva knows the dangers of the far right all too well, and during his visit to the US last week he laid out exactly how to defeat such reactionaries: not by striving for a false unity but by confronting the foes of democracy head-on.
Lula Is Working to Revive Brazil’s Democracy Against a Powerful Far-Right Bloc
Since taking office as president, Lula has had to navigate a treacherous path, facing a powerful ultraconservative bloc in Brazil’s national congress. The job of repairing state capacity while avoiding an economic downturn will test his skills to the limit.
Privilege Versus Democracy in Brazil
Jair Bolsonaro represents the rise of an authoritarian neoliberalism in Brazil and across the world. If he's elected president, Brazilian democracy could collapse.
Brazil’s Largest City May Soon Have a Socialist Mayor
Brazil is still dominated by Jair Bolsonaro’s unhinged reactionary politics. Which makes it all the more incredible that the leftist housing organizer Guilherme Boulos recently defied all expectations by making it to a runoff in São Paulo’s upcoming mayoral election.
A Brazilian Bloodbath
When Lula and the Workers’ Party took power in Brazil, they had a plan to take on crime and the power of the police. Their failure helped undermine their entire program.
Brazil’s Election Shows the Dangers of an Increasingly Far-Right Police
Lula’s election victory was nearly derailed by a Bolsonaro-supporting police effort to suppress the vote. It was only the most recent episode in which politicized police forces have intervened to thwart democracy — and the US is far from immune to the problem.
“Our Task Is to Defeat Bolsonarism and Put an End to His Authoritarian Project”
Housing organizer and socialist Guilherme Boulos recently shocked Brazil by forcing a runoff for mayor in the largest city in the Western Hemisphere, São Paolo. In an interview, he lays out his vision for the position, how to embed the Brazilian left in the country’s working class, and how to “place the periphery in the center.”