It’s an intense election that Brazil is holding today, with the potential for disastrous and even violent consequences, as the Trump-like hard-right nationalist Bolsonaro faces the left-leaning Lula da Silva, a political leader and former president who was revered as the saviour of the Brazilian economy and its tremendous growth, but then spent years in prison, convicted of corruption. Starting a 12-year jail sentence in 2018, the changes were later dismissed and da Silva staged a spectacular political comeback.
Much like Trump, Bolsonaro is a right-wing populist who has unashamedly divided the country. While he has fervent supporters on the right, the left detests him and wants him out. In the feature length PBS documentary about the controversial president of Brazil, “Rise of the Bolsonaros”, that tells the story of his extraordinary rise from relative obscurity to the ultimate seat of South American power, Bolsonaro says that he sees three possible outcomes in this election for him: He wins, he’s put in jail or he’s dead. He has continued to repeat this during the campaign as a way of further consolidating his base and presenting himself as a victim of nefarious conspiracies, a strategy that is meant to further divide the nation.
Since coming to power President Jair Bolsonaro has undermined democracy, accelerated deforestation in the Amazon and played down the danger of the coronavirus pandemic, with calamitous results. He is brazenly against political correctness and has called women idiots, issued taunts about rape, and even had no qualms about pushing a congresswoman who was challenging him on statements he had made about rape. He retaliated saying that she’s “not worthy to be raped” and that he would not hesitate to strike her. Critics are asking: “another four years of his leadership?”
In anticipation of today’s election, comparisons are being made to the 2020 events in the US. “People saw what happened in the U.S. in 2020, and they know about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. On the left, people are worried about a similar situation here because of Bolsonaro’s rhetoric. He was one of the last world leaders to recognize Joe Biden as the winner of the election.”
Observers are reporting that “it appears that institutions like the courts and Congress are prepared to stand up to an election challenge by Bolsonaro. And the armed forces, which had also been questioning the voting systems, now also don’t seem to have any interest in backing a coup.” However, the greatest fear is that Bolsonaro supporters will take to the streets and create havoc. Taking a leaf out of Trump’s book, Bolsonaro has hammered the rhetoric that the only way he can lose it is if it’s rigged, priming his supporters for violence for the purpose of overthrowing his loss.
It remains to be seen if Bolsonaro’s hard-right populist lies can endanger the fragile democracy that Brazil now enjoys.
