Bitter social divide as Brazil goes to polls
POPULIST BOLSONARO HAS TAPPED INTO WELL OF RESENTMENT
In the last days of Brazil’s splintered and divisive presidential race, most of the 13 candidates stumped across the country, sparring in debates and broadcasting attack ads in a last-ditch bid for votes.
But Jair Bolsonaro, the populist, far-right candidate leading the pack, spent much of the final stretch in a hospital bed, convalescing from a near-fatal stabbing, occasionally posting selfies and shaky videos in which he looked feeble and groggy. His neardisappearance from the political stage only increased his lead: Polls suggest Bolsonaro will trounce opponents in the election today.
His success has defied the laws of political gravity.
Until recently, Bolsonaro was a provocateur on the fringes of power who accomplished little as a seven-term lawmaker, but made headlines by calling for a military dictatorship and verbally attacking women, gays and people of colour — in a country that is mostly nonwhite.
Until early August, he did not even have a running mate because traditional parties and politicians found him toxic.
Deep well of resentment
But much like US President Donald Trump and populist leaders around the world, Bolsonaro has tapped into a deep well of resentment at the political establishment. He channelled Brazilians’ anger over staggering levels of corruption and crime, presenting himself as the only candidate tough enough to solve them.
“Brazilians want a hero,” said Daniel Machado, a professor of political marketing, referring to Bolsonaro’s vow to take radical measures to fix Brazil.
Detractors say they see authoritarian tendencies in Bolsonaro, a former army captain who has vowed to appoint generals to several prominent posts and has spoken with admiration of the military dictatorship that governed Brazil from 1964 to 1985.
Less than a month before Election Day, the Workers’ Party officially nominated Fernando Haddad, a former education minister and mayor of Sao Paulo, betting that jailed former president Lula da Silva’s base would transfer its allegiance to him. This was effective enough to push Haddad — a 55-year-old economist, lawyer and history professor with little national name recognition — into second place in the polls.
The matchup between Bolsonaro and Haddad has crystallised a bitter societal divide. ritish street artist Banksy has stunned the art world with arguably his most audacious prank yet, self-destructing one of his best-known works moments after it fetched more than a million pounds at auction in London.
Girl with Balloon had just sold at Sotheby’s Friday for $1.4 million (Dh5.1 million) — a joint record for the maverick artist — when it unexpectedly passed through a shredder hidden in the frame, according to the auction house.
“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art for Europe, in a press release accompanied by a photo of the bizarre episode.
“The unexpected incident became instant art world folklore and certainly marks the first time in auction history that a work of art automatically shredded itself after coming under the hammer,” the auctioneers added in the statement.
Banksy posted his own photo from midway through the shredding on his Instagram page early yesterday, showing onlookers aghast at the stunt.
The caption written below, imitating an auctioneer, read: “going, going, gone”.
The post, and reports of a man dressed in black sunglasses and a hat scuffling with security guards near the entrance to Sotheby’s shortly after the ■ incident, led to speculation the artist was present to trigger it.
Sotheby’s, which could not be immediately reached for further comment yesterday, did not disclose if it had prior knowledge of the stunt.
Branczik said he was “not in on the ruse”, according to The Art Newspaper. “We are busy figuring out what this means in an auction context,” he added.
“The shredding is now part of the integral art work.”
Sotheby’s did not release details on the buyer, but reports said the winning bid was made by telephone.
“We have talked with the successful purchaser who was surprised by the story,” the auctioneers said in a statement to The Financial Times.
Banksy, a mysterious artist from Bristol, southwest England, has never confirmed his real identity.