The country just held the most important presidential election in its history.
A field of 13 candidates was narrowed down to two for the final vote.
Fernando Haddad represented the leftist Workers’ Party, which has been in power for much of
the past two decades.
He garnered just under 45% of the vote.
Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who won 55% of the vote, has been elected Brazil’s
next President, marking a dramatic shift in the country’s politics.
That’s because Bolsonaro is a longtime congressman who is known for his ultra conservative and
deeply offensive rhetoric.
His rhetoric has sparked widespread protests and outrage.
It became so bad that at a campaign rally, the candidate was stabbed by a man
claiming he was “on a mission from God.”
But, despite the backlash, Bolsonaro drew huge crowds to his rallies and skyrocketed
to the top of the polls.
So how did this relatively unknown congressman garner so much support?
And what does that mean for Brazil’s democracy?
Brazil hasn’t been a democracy for long.
The country was ruled by a military regime from 1964 to 1985. It was an era marked by violence,
torture, exile, and censorship.
It was during this military regime that Jair Bolsonaro began his career as an army captain.
When the regime fell in 1985 and Brazil became a democracy, Bolsonaro entered politics as
a staunch far-right conservative; eventually becoming a congressmen for Rio de Janeiro.
He served seven terms in congress but remained controversial because of his extremist remarks.
And he continued to show an affinity for the military dictatorship.
Just look at the photos in his congressional office.
The portraits on the wall are presidents from Brazil’s military regime.
As a presidential candidate, Bolsonaro didn’t change.
He openly calls called for bringing back some of the military regime’s tactics.
In fact, Bolsonaro has picked a retired army general as his running mate who has openly suggested
that a military coup could be a possibility.
This time though, the pro-military message struck a chord.
For many Brazilians, particularly the young voters in Bolsonaro's base, the military regime’s
brutality has faded into history.
Instead, Bolsonaro’s praise of the armed forces has resonated with his supporters at
a time when crime has been soaring in the country.
In 2016, Brazil’s homicide rate was nearly six times that of the US.
In a country that shares borders with some of the biggest cocaine producing countries
in the world, much of Brazil’s violence stems from drug gang rivalries.
Mismanagement of public security funds by government officials has left police in the
country underpaid and underprepared to deal with the mounting violence.
Bolsonaro’s pro-military stance has made him “a champion of law and order”.
For many, even though his rhetoric calls back to a brutal dictatorship; Bolsonaro is seen
as a solution for a country in crisis.
But Brazil’s crisis isn’t just about homicides.
The country is still reeling from the biggest corruption scandal in its history.
And Bolsonaro has capitalized on that too.
“For weeks, Brazil has been consumed by allegations
of corruption and bribery at the highest level involving politicians and business leaders.”
A massive corruption investigation, known as Operation Car Wash uncovered a money laundering
scheme that funneled billions into the pockets of politicians -- including members of major
political parties.
Bolsonaro seized the opportunity to position himself as a political outsider and promised
to end corruption.
Here he is leading protests against Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's president during the scandal.
He lashed out at the Worker’s Party, that Rousseff belonged to, and whose members had
been prosecuted for corruption.
Bolsonaro was actually one of the pivotal votes for Rousseff’s impeachment in 2016,
when he openly dedicated his vote to an army colonel accused of widespread torture and
murders during Brazil’s dictatorship:
The corruption scandal also helped Bolsonaro by removing his strongest opponent.
“Convicted for corruption, the man better known as “Lula” was forced to bow out
of October’s presidential race.”
In September [2018], ex-President Lula da Silva who was in jail for corruption, was
banned from running in the presidential race
Even from jail, Lula was polling far above any other presidential candidate.
But when Lula was officially barred from the race, Bolsonaro soared in the polls.
His final opponent in the presidential race, Fernando Haddad, belongs to the same party
as Lula, but he didn't drawn didn’t draw the same level of support.
In part because of the increase in crime and
rampant corruption, the public’s faith in the government has eroded over the years.
Their trust in congress, the presidency, the supreme court are all at an all time
low.
Meanwhile, the public’s view of the armed forces is relatively favorable — with nearly
8 out of 10 Brazilians supporting the institution.
For Brazilians fed up with the political ruling class, Jair Bolsonaro is offering an alternative.
But for many others, Bolsonaro's offensive comments
and anti-democratic solutions are a reminder of Brazil's authoritarian past.