‘ Tropical Trump’ Jair is new Brazil Prez
Former Army captain Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil on Sunday, promising a fundamental change in direction for the giant Latin American country, the latest to take a turn to the far- right.
Despite repulsing many with his open support of the torture used by Brazil’s former military regime, as well as remarks deemed misogynist, racist and homophobic, Mr Bolsonaro managed to tap voters’ deep anger with corruption, crime and economic malaise.
Mr Bolsonaro, 63, will take office on January 1.
“We will change Brazil’s destiny together,” he said in his victory speech — broadcast live from his home on Facebook, the platform he has used to campaign since an attacker stabbed him in the stomach at a rally on September 6.
Sitting next to his wife and wearing a dark blazer, the longtime congressman delivered his speech in a stern voice.
He pledged to govern “following the Bible and the constitution,” and said: “We cannot continue flirting with socialism, communism, populism and the extremism of the left.” But he promised to defend “the constitution, democracy and freedom,” fending off opponents’ warnings he would try to veer toward authoritarianism after openly expressing his admiration for Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship ( 1964- 1985).
Thousands of supporters flooded the streets outside his home in Rio de Janeiro, waving Brazilian flags and lighting up the sky with fireworks.
Dubbed the “Tropical Trump” by some, Bolsonaro publicly admires the American leader.
Rio De Janeiro, Oct. 29: Brazil entered a new era on Monday after electing its next President, Jair Bolsonaro, a farright congressman who vowed a fundamental change in direction for the giant Latin American country.
Mr Bolsonaro, who openly admires Brazil’s former military dictatorship and shocked many with his derogatory remarks on women, gays and blacks, won 55 per cent of the vote in a run- off election on Sunday — more than 10 points ahead of leftist opponent Fernando Haddad.
Having channeled voters’ anger with corruption, crime and economic malaise, he will now get down to work trying to deliver on the promise he made in his victory speech: to “change Brazil’s destiny”.
Mr Bolsonaro, 63, is due to fly to Brasilia on Tuesday to start the transition process, which will culminate with his swearing- in on January 1.
His schedule includes meetings with deeply unpopular outgoing President Michel Temer, as well as the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the army chief of staff.
After a vitriolic campaign that left Brazil deeply polarised, the country is anxiously waiting to see what Mr Bolsonaro’s presidency will actually look like.
One of his top advisers, economic guru Paulo Guedes, promised Sunday night that the changes would be sweeping indeed, at least as far as managing the world’s eighthlargest economy is concerned. “We are going to change the social- democratic economic model. It’s terrible. We are prisoners of low growth, high taxes, high interest rates,” said Mr Guedes, a liberal economist trained at the University of Chicago who will head an economy super- ministry under Mr Bolsonaro.
“Brazil has spent 30 years letting its public expenditures balloon,” he told a post- election press conference.
“That model corrupted our politics, made taxes go up and caused our debt to snowball... We need pension reform... And we are going to accelerate privatisations.”