Brazilians have chosen a proto-fascist demagogue, Jair Bolsonaro, as their new president. The result in the second round of the election last Sunday was not unforeseen. In the first round, on 7 October, Bolsonaro was within four points of a straight victory. On Sunday he obtained 55.5 per cent backing versus 44.5 per cent for his Workers' Party rival, Fernando Haddad.
Bolsonaro represents the Social Liberal Party that obtained, in the first round, the largest congressional representation in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. He also comes to power with a clear majority around Brazil's Gubernatorial and Legislative Assemblies.
Bolsonaro's law-and-order rhetoric, regrettably, found the minds of the majority of Brazilians. Street crime is rising and seven Brazilian cities feature in the world's 20 most violent. Bolsonaro, who is a former army captain and has spent 26 years as a legislator, has represented the de facto alliance between the country's traditionally undemocratic political right, the economic elite, the military and the fundamentalist evangelical churches.
Brazilian analysts have predicted the country is heading to four years — the presidential term length — of repression of the social movement and an assault on workers' rights. It will also see a direct military influence in the government. Bolsonaro is an admirer of the brutal 1964 -1985 military dictatorship. The Uruguayan former president and a moral figure in the region, Jose Mujica, said: 'Bolsonaro is a danger to Brazil and the region.'
Prominent Catholic priest Frei Betto — who suffered the military dictatorship first hand — said the election of Bolsonaro would represent the 'return of the military' and the 'criminalisation of social movements, repression of art and culture, militarisation of schools and a green light for [right wing] militias'.
Bolsonaro's victory is the result of a fragile democracy that was unwilling and unable to punish those responsible for the crimes committed by the dictatorship. Wrapped in impunity, the Brazilian military has been patiently waiting in the shadows to once again take control of the Palácio do Planalto, the magnificent government house designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
The election of Bolsonaro is the nauseating product of Brazil's disenchantment with democracy and popular hatred against a political system corrupted to its core. It is corruption — a malaise that infiltrates just about every slice of Brazilian society — that has pushed the country to what Vladimir Safatle, a Brazilian philosopher, has described as 'night without end'.
"On Sunday — mark my words