Brazil on cusp of taking sharp turn to right
Brazilians appear on the cusp of handing the presidency to a brash former army captain who has reminisced fondly about dictatorship, pledged to jail corrupt politicians and promised an allout war on the drugs and crime that plague South America’s largest nation.
Far-right congressman Jair Bolsonaro just missed outright victory in Sunday’s vote, and will face former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad of the leftist Workers’ Party in an Oct. 28 runoff. Bolsonaro only needs a few more points to secure victory, but Haddad’s supporters vowed Monday to launch a tough fight to make up ground after he finished a distant second in the first round.
The election was a seismic shift for this nation of more than 200 million people, where the left has won the past four elections but deep divisions have opened in the wake of a massive corruption scandal and the impeachment of a president. Brazil’s move fits into a global trend among voters — in the United States and Europe, among other places — who are choosing anti-establishment and often far-right populist candidates who target minorities and promise a return to “traditional values.” Brazil’s direction both economically and politically will have a major impact on surrounding countries that are trade partners with the regional heavyweight. It will especially have influence on one of the thorniest issues in the region, Venezuela’s economic and social collapse. Bolsonaro has promised a harder line on Venezuela, which millions have fled in recent years.
Bolsonaro’s Social and Liberal Party was a tiny, fringe group, but the candidate began surging in the polls earlier this year through his use of social media and carefully orchestrated rallies. Bolsonaro has often praised Donald Trump, and his campaign took many pages from the U.S. president’s playbook, from bashing the mainstream media and political class to using the candidate’s adult children as proxies.
Bolsonaro’s party took a whopping 52 seats in the lower house of Congress — up from just one in the last election — giving it 10 per cent of that house and making it the second-largest party after the Workers’ Party, with 56.
Brian Winter, the editor-inchief of Americas Quarterly magazine, said the results underscored “the total disappearance of the Brazilian centre” and that Bolsonaro seemed almost certain to glide to victory.