Brazil on the brink of violent unrest
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro may be preparing the ground for a power grab next year, say Samantha Pearson and Luciana Magalhaes in The Wall Street Journal. His supporters have taken to the streets in 100 cities, with 125,000 coming out in the capital alone. Predictions of violent clashes between his supporters, who accuse Brazil’s Supreme Court and Congress of plotting against the right-wing leader, and the police failed to materialise, but Bolsonaro’s “fiery” rhetoric has frightened many people. The president repeated promises that next year’s election could have only three outcomes: “My arrest, my death or my victory.”
Bolsonaro’s situation is desperate, says the Financial Times. He is the subject of several investigations and his popularity has been “declining sharply”. His “anti-democratic rhetoric” has frightened many one-time supporters, notably in business. A recent poll suggests that only 24% of Brazilians approve of his administration, with 61% disapproving. It seems likely that, thanks to his disastrous handling of the Covid19 crisis, Bolsonaro is likely to lose the next election by a wide margin to his main political rival, former president Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro may be “weak”, but his “threats are real”, says Raphael Tsavkko Garcia in Newsweek. Despite his low national popularity, the president still enjoys wide support among members of the armed forces and military police. His supporters have also mobilised to create a “climate of fear and social tension”. Given the president’s determination to cling onto power, his weakness may lead, as with other authoritarian leaders, to rash and dangerous actions.