Last month, far-right politician and former military officer Jair Bolsonaro won the 2018 Brazilian presidential election.
The now Brazilian President-Elect has sparked much controversy over the years for his ultra-conservative views as well as his policies regarding Brazil’s black and LGBT populations.
A lifelong opponent of leftist and liberal-leaning media outlets, Bolsonaro had announced on his campaign that, “the newspaper is done.”
“As far as I’m concerned with government advertising – press that acts like that, lying shamelessly, won’t have any support from the federal government,” Bolsonaro said in a recent press conference.
Bolsonaro’s election has upset citizens and journalists across Brazil. During his military tenure, Bolsonaro advocated for the use of torture and fear mongering tactics against designated “critics of the state.”
Senior business major Natasha Baltazar, an international student from Brazil, was born in Rio de Janeiro. The city was under Bolsonaro’s jurisdiction during his military tenure. Baltazar, who returns to Rio in between semesters, says that the city’s political climate has already changed in the age of Bolsonaro.
One of Baltazar’s homosexual friends walked through the streets and was told by bystanders, “No Brasil pode matar viado,” which roughly translates to “In Brazil we can kill f*gs.”
“I like to believe that the election of Bolsonaro doesn’t reflect the hatred in Brazilians. He’s not qualified and his radical ideas could destroy the country,” Baltazar added.
Brazil has seen a surge in state-sponsored violence directed toward journalists. The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) has documented over 141 recorded incidents of threats and attacks carried out on Brazilian journalists during the 2018 presidential campaign.
Supporters of Bolsonaro have resorted to cyber and domestic terrorism in past efforts to hinder his then-opponent for the presidency, leftist-leader Fernando Haddad.
In addition, syndicates working for Bolsonaro created and operated fraudulent WhatsApp accounts to spread slanderous falsehoods about Haddad.
Despite Facebook shutting down more than 100,000 of these conspiracy-spreading WhatsApp accounts, Bolsonaro’s populist-centered campaign only continued to propel him in the polls.
Abraji reported that gunmen once opened fire on a bus containing 28 reporters en route to cover a Haddad campaign event.
“Much like Trump, Bolsonaro poses a threat that goes beyond legislation. His hate speech has allowed many to believe that it is OK to discriminate against minorities and the LGBTQ+ population,” Baltazar said.
Bolsonaro’s far right views have not gone unnoticed by other heads of state with similar views. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already announced that he will attend Bolsonaro’s inauguration ceremony.
“It’s very interesting to see how world politics are shaped up now. Wherever you look in the world whether it’s the west, the Middle East or Latin America these emerging world leaders are for lack of a better term, psychopaths,” said Students for Justice in Palestine at SJSU president Fawaz Harara.
“You have the Saudi king slaughtering reporters, the North Korean leader threatening nuclear war and Trump alienating immigrants but what’s scary is that they all love each other,” Harara said in response to the supposed friendship between Netanyahu and Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro’s campaign was also made possible by the collapse of Brazil’s leftist major political party, Partido de Trabalhadores, or Worker’s Party (PT).
The Worker’s Party was said to have increased liberal voter apathy in Brazil following the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff in 2016. Her successor, former Chief of Staff Luiz “Lula” da Silva then only carried a 39 percent approval rating following charges of money laundering.
“People feel betrayed by Lula and PT, who promised to make the country evolve. The past years have resulted in a massive increase in unemployment as well as a complete disregard for education, health, and infrastructure. Brazil pays some of the highest taxes in the world and yet nothing happens,” Baltazar said.
Bolsonaro’s presidential inauguration ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2019 in Brazil.
