Brazil elects far-right leader as president
SAO PAULO: Brazil entered a new era on Monday after electing its next president, Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who vowed a fundamental change in direction for the giant Latin American country.
Bolsonaro, who openly admires Brazil’s former military dictatorship and shocked many with his derogatory remarks on women, gays and blacks, won 55% of the vote in a run-off election on Sunday, more than 10 points ahead of leftist opponent Fernando Haddad.
Having channelled voters’ anger with corruption, crime and economic malaise, the man dubbed the “Tropical Trump” will now get down to work seeking to “change Brazil’s destiny” , the promise he made in his victory speech.
Markets reacted positively to the victory by the business-world favourite, who will take office on January 1. The Sao Paulo stock exchange’s main index was up 1.5% mid-morning, after adding 10% in a month as Bolsonaro surged in the polls. The Brazilian real traded its strongest in six months against the dollar, before retreating slightly.
After a deeply polarising election, many Brazilians seem eager to turn the page, hoping for the best. For Bolsonaro’s opponents, however, the bitterness runs deep. The 63-year-old received congratulations from world leaders though some urged him to “respect democratic principles,” as French President Emmanuel Macron put it.
Opponents have warned Bolsonaro could try to veer toward authoritarianism, after the former army captain openly expressed his admiration for Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship of 1964-1985 and its torture of leftist dissidents.
The European Union will be expecting Bolsonaro to “work to consolidate democracy,” EU spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said pointedly.
US President Donald Trump and Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini were more effusive. Trump tweeted that he had had an “excellent” phone call with Bolsonaro, and Salvini celebrated the fact that “in Brazil too, the people have chased out the left,” wishing him luck.