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In Brazil, Bolsonaro's far-right echoes Trump's
'Boslonarismo' akin to Europe's ultra-conservatives, closer to Trump and the US alt-right
Rio de Janiero: "Bolsonarismo," the Brazilian far-right movement built around President Jair Bolsonaro, shares much in common with ultra-conservatives in power in Europe — Hungary, Poland and soon Italy — but is closer to Donald Trump and the US alt-right.
Whether or not Bolsonaro wins his uphill fight for re-election against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's October 30 runoff, the far-right's arrival in power in Brazil, as elsewhere, is linked to deep social upheaval, analysts say.
"All these far-right movements are rooted in an economic and social crisis that is growing worse by the year: rising inequality, declining income for the working and middle classes," says Christophe Ventura, a Latin America specialist at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS).
Mistrust
"That has triggered the rise of widespread mistrust."
The response, he says, has followed a similar pattern internationally: a rejection of "rotten and incompetent" traditional politicians in favour of "virtuous citizens and a more authoritarian government" to right the wrongs unleashed by globalisation and free trade — blamed for all ills.
In Europe, Italy's Fratelli d'Italia, Hungary's Fidesz, Poland's Law and Justice party, the Sweden Democrats and France's Rassemblement National and Reconquete all "accuse immigrants of causing every crisis and want to close the borders," says Geraldo Monteiro, head of the Brazilian Center for Democracy Studies and Research at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ).
The Brazilian context is different: no longer a major immigration destination, "immigrants aren't a big subject," and Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are less prevalent than in Europe, says Monteiro.
Bolsonarismo's version of "national solidarity" is instead a battle of "good people" versus the "corrupt."
Internal enemies include the LGBT community, Indigenous peoples, environmental and human-rights activists, the media, academics and the cultural elite — all lumped together with Lula and the "communist" left.
Strong men
As with far-right movements everywhere, Bolsonarismo's campaign is God, country and family. The latter, say true believers, is under threat from gay marriage, abortion and "gender ideology."
Whereas conservative Catholics are the core of the European far-right, in Brazil, it is the powerful, fast-growing Evangelical movement.
Bolsonaro's movement is also more military in nature than its European cousins, says Monteiro.
He says Brazil "still carries the memory of the military dictatorship" (1964-1985) — fondly, in ex-army captain Bolsonaro's case — and the president has actively courted military support, naming generals to powerful posts in his administration.
He has also energetically promoted gun ownership, signing a raft of legislation and decrees intended to help "good people" defend themselves and their property — a viewpoint that "doesn't exist in Europe," says Ventura.
Trump a reference point
"The primary reference point" for Bolsonaro's far-right has been Donald Trump's United States, he adds, drawing parallels with the American alt-right and Tea Party movements.
It is a brand of populism in which "the leader is the direct representative of the people," says Mayra Goulart, a political scientist at Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ).
Anything supporters perceive as interfering with that direct democracy — political parties, institutions, the media — comes under attack.
Like the US alt-right, Bolsonaro's movement has attacked Brazil's democratic institutions as enemies of the people, notably the Supreme Court and the supposedly fraud-plagued election system. Many observers fear a Brazilian version of Trump supporters' attack on the US Capitol if Bolsonaro loses on October 30.
Like Trump — who recently gave him a glowing endorsement — Bolsonaro regularly insults journalists and attacks the "fake news" media.
He prefers to communicate directly with supporters on social media — which is inundated with "alternative truth" and conspiracy theories.
Hate speech
Trump's influence is also visible in Bolsonaro's climate-change skepticism and resistance to expert advice on handling Covid-19.
The US and Brazilian movements also share a "pro-market, pro-business discourse," says Goulart.
Free speech is upheld as an absolute right — unfiltered hate speech and disinformation included.
Both Trump and Bolsonaro ran as political outsiders and achieved "unexpected" victories, says Monteiro.
And both "easily draw thousands of supporters into the streets."
'Boslonarismo' akin to Europe's ultra-conservatives, closer to Trump and the US alt-right
AFP
October 19, 2022
October 19, 2022
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro greets supporters upon arrival at Planalto Palace in
Brasilia, on May 24, 2020, amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Rio de Janiero: "Bolsonarismo," the Brazilian far-right movement built around President Jair Bolsonaro, shares much in common with ultra-conservatives in power in Europe — Hungary, Poland and soon Italy — but is closer to Donald Trump and the US alt-right.
Whether or not Bolsonaro wins his uphill fight for re-election against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's October 30 runoff, the far-right's arrival in power in Brazil, as elsewhere, is linked to deep social upheaval, analysts say.
"All these far-right movements are rooted in an economic and social crisis that is growing worse by the year: rising inequality, declining income for the working and middle classes," says Christophe Ventura, a Latin America specialist at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS).
Mistrust
"That has triggered the rise of widespread mistrust."
The response, he says, has followed a similar pattern internationally: a rejection of "rotten and incompetent" traditional politicians in favour of "virtuous citizens and a more authoritarian government" to right the wrongs unleashed by globalisation and free trade — blamed for all ills.
In Europe, Italy's Fratelli d'Italia, Hungary's Fidesz, Poland's Law and Justice party, the Sweden Democrats and France's Rassemblement National and Reconquete all "accuse immigrants of causing every crisis and want to close the borders," says Geraldo Monteiro, head of the Brazilian Center for Democracy Studies and Research at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ).
The Brazilian context is different: no longer a major immigration destination, "immigrants aren't a big subject," and Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are less prevalent than in Europe, says Monteiro.
Bolsonarismo's version of "national solidarity" is instead a battle of "good people" versus the "corrupt."
Internal enemies include the LGBT community, Indigenous peoples, environmental and human-rights activists, the media, academics and the cultural elite — all lumped together with Lula and the "communist" left.
Strong men
As with far-right movements everywhere, Bolsonarismo's campaign is God, country and family. The latter, say true believers, is under threat from gay marriage, abortion and "gender ideology."
Whereas conservative Catholics are the core of the European far-right, in Brazil, it is the powerful, fast-growing Evangelical movement.
Bolsonaro's movement is also more military in nature than its European cousins, says Monteiro.
He says Brazil "still carries the memory of the military dictatorship" (1964-1985) — fondly, in ex-army captain Bolsonaro's case — and the president has actively courted military support, naming generals to powerful posts in his administration.
He has also energetically promoted gun ownership, signing a raft of legislation and decrees intended to help "good people" defend themselves and their property — a viewpoint that "doesn't exist in Europe," says Ventura.
Trump a reference point
"The primary reference point" for Bolsonaro's far-right has been Donald Trump's United States, he adds, drawing parallels with the American alt-right and Tea Party movements.
It is a brand of populism in which "the leader is the direct representative of the people," says Mayra Goulart, a political scientist at Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ).
Anything supporters perceive as interfering with that direct democracy — political parties, institutions, the media — comes under attack.
Like the US alt-right, Bolsonaro's movement has attacked Brazil's democratic institutions as enemies of the people, notably the Supreme Court and the supposedly fraud-plagued election system. Many observers fear a Brazilian version of Trump supporters' attack on the US Capitol if Bolsonaro loses on October 30.
Like Trump — who recently gave him a glowing endorsement — Bolsonaro regularly insults journalists and attacks the "fake news" media.
He prefers to communicate directly with supporters on social media — which is inundated with "alternative truth" and conspiracy theories.
Hate speech
Trump's influence is also visible in Bolsonaro's climate-change skepticism and resistance to expert advice on handling Covid-19.
The US and Brazilian movements also share a "pro-market, pro-business discourse," says Goulart.
Free speech is upheld as an absolute right — unfiltered hate speech and disinformation included.
Both Trump and Bolsonaro ran as political outsiders and achieved "unexpected" victories, says Monteiro.
And both "easily draw thousands of supporters into the streets."
Brazil’s Bolsonaro apologizes amid ‘pedophilia’ row
By AFP
Published October 18, 2022
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (pictured October 17, 2022) has been swept up in a firestorm for his remarks he made about visiting a group of underage Venezuelan girls at home, as he fights for re-election - Copyright AFP/File Joe Klamar
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro apologized Tuesday after an interview in which he talked about visiting a group of underage Venezuelan girls at home sparked controversy and drew accusations of “pedophilia” from opponents.
Fighting for re-election in an October 30 runoff against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the far-right president has been swept up in a firestorm for his remarks on the Venezuelan teens, who he implied were prostitutes.
“If my words, which were taken out of context in bad faith, were somehow misinterpreted or caused discomfort to our Venezuelan sisters, I apologize,” Bolsonaro said in a video posted online.
“My committment has always been to better welcome and assist all people fleeing dictatorships anywhere in the world,” he added, flanked by his wife and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s representative in Brazil.
Bolsonaro recognizes Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, rather than socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
The controversy erupted Friday when Bolsonaro spoke in a YouTube interview about his encounter with “three or four very pretty 14- or 15-year-olds” last year in a poor Brasilia neighborhood.
“There was a vibe between us. I turned around. ‘Can I come in your house?’ I went inside. There were 15 or 20 girls (in the house), all Venezuelans aged 14, 15, getting ready on a Saturday. Why? To earn a living,” he said.
The story appeared intended as one of Bolsonaro’s frequent warnings that Brazil will suffer the same fate as crisis-torn Venezuela if it elects Lula.
But Bolsonaro found himself forced on the defensive after Lula allies attacked the comments as “depraved” and the hashtag #Bolsonaropedofilo (Bolsonaro pedophile) went viral online.
His campaign succeeded Sunday in a petition to electoral authorities to ban a Lula attack ad based on excerpts from the interview.
But Bolsonaro said the preceding day had been “the most terrible of my life.”
Bolsonaro, who vehemently rejects the opposition’s criticisms, said in Tuesday’s video his former women’s minister, Damares Alves, had “almost immediately” investigated the girls’ case and found they were not in fact prostitutes.
He said Alves and First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro had visited the girls Tuesday and “found they were rebuilding their lives (and) even helping other Venezuelan refugees find jobs and integrate” in Brazil, which hosts an estimated 260,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
Newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported the Venezuelan teens and their mothers had refused a request from Bolsonaro’s campaign to record a video on the president’s behalf.
Analysis-Brazil's Bolsonaro caught off guard by campaign's ugly closing chapterBy AFP
Published October 18, 2022
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (pictured October 17, 2022) has been swept up in a firestorm for his remarks he made about visiting a group of underage Venezuelan girls at home, as he fights for re-election - Copyright AFP/File Joe Klamar
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro apologized Tuesday after an interview in which he talked about visiting a group of underage Venezuelan girls at home sparked controversy and drew accusations of “pedophilia” from opponents.
Fighting for re-election in an October 30 runoff against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the far-right president has been swept up in a firestorm for his remarks on the Venezuelan teens, who he implied were prostitutes.
“If my words, which were taken out of context in bad faith, were somehow misinterpreted or caused discomfort to our Venezuelan sisters, I apologize,” Bolsonaro said in a video posted online.
“My committment has always been to better welcome and assist all people fleeing dictatorships anywhere in the world,” he added, flanked by his wife and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s representative in Brazil.
Bolsonaro recognizes Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, rather than socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
The controversy erupted Friday when Bolsonaro spoke in a YouTube interview about his encounter with “three or four very pretty 14- or 15-year-olds” last year in a poor Brasilia neighborhood.
“There was a vibe between us. I turned around. ‘Can I come in your house?’ I went inside. There were 15 or 20 girls (in the house), all Venezuelans aged 14, 15, getting ready on a Saturday. Why? To earn a living,” he said.
The story appeared intended as one of Bolsonaro’s frequent warnings that Brazil will suffer the same fate as crisis-torn Venezuela if it elects Lula.
But Bolsonaro found himself forced on the defensive after Lula allies attacked the comments as “depraved” and the hashtag #Bolsonaropedofilo (Bolsonaro pedophile) went viral online.
His campaign succeeded Sunday in a petition to electoral authorities to ban a Lula attack ad based on excerpts from the interview.
But Bolsonaro said the preceding day had been “the most terrible of my life.”
Bolsonaro, who vehemently rejects the opposition’s criticisms, said in Tuesday’s video his former women’s minister, Damares Alves, had “almost immediately” investigated the girls’ case and found they were not in fact prostitutes.
He said Alves and First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro had visited the girls Tuesday and “found they were rebuilding their lives (and) even helping other Venezuelan refugees find jobs and integrate” in Brazil, which hosts an estimated 260,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
Newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported the Venezuelan teens and their mothers had refused a request from Bolsonaro’s campaign to record a video on the president’s behalf.
Brazil's presidential debate in Sao Paulo ahead of runoff election
Tue, October 18, 2022
By Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's unexpectedly close presidential race has taken an ugly turn in the final weeks ahead of an Oct. 30 runoff vote, even by the bruising standards of the past year, with insinuations of cannibalism, pedophilia and devil worship.
The tone shifted so quickly that the campaign of President Jair Bolsonaro, who won office four years ago with an aggressive digital assault on rivals, was put on the defensive, losing precious time for his strategy to come from behind and win reelection.
Two senior aides to Bolsonaro said his campaign was taken aback by the effectiveness of attacks from leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and allies, who seized on both old videos and recent slip-ups to leave the right-wing incumbent scrambling.
"It did us a lot of damage," one of the campaign aides said on condition of anonymity.
In one line of attack, Lula allies dug up a 2016 interview in which Bolsonaro said he was willing to eat human flesh in an unspecified indigenous ritual. In another, they circulated old images of Bolsonaro speaking at Masonic lodges, considered pagan temples by some of his evangelical Christian allies.
In the most explosive attack yet, Lula's campaign made an attack ad from Bolsonaro's anecdote on a Friday podcast about visiting the home of adolescent Venezuelan migrant girls who he suggested were preparing to prostitute themselves.
The president won court injunctions that took that attack ad off the air and kept the subject out of a debate with Lula last Sunday. Bolsonaro has denied any association with cannibalism or pagan rituals and branded the insinuations of pedophilia as slanderous lies. But the subjects have dominated campaign coverage and online conversations for days.
One tracking poll found Lula's advantage, which narrowed to just three percentage points before the weekend, was back up to 52% to 45% over Bolsonaro by Tuesday, according to a political consultancy that requested anonymity to discuss private surveys.
Public polls, released every week or two, continue to show a roughly stable race, with Lula holding an advantage of around 5 percentage points as he did in the first-round vote on Oct. 2.
But every week that passes without Bolsonaro gaining ground is a battle won by Lula, who was Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010.
"Bolsonaro has become a victim of his own weaponized communications strategy that muddies public debate with sarcasm, mockery and humiliation aimed at dividing Brazilian society," said Fabio Malini, a professor of new media at the Federal University of Espirito Santo.
'BRAZILIAN SOAP OPERA'
Bolsonaro is not shy about returning fire.
"The focus now is to attack Lula and trigger fears of him returning to power," said a second Bolsonaro campaign source.
Bolsonaro's campaign aides say their polling indicated 8% to 10% of Lula supporters could still be swayed with arguments that a leftist presidency could trigger crime waves, economic ruin and setbacks for social conservatives.
The incumbent's broadcast ads already suggest that Lula will legalize abortion and close down churches, which the former president has repeatedly denied.
A more outlandish line of attack from Bolsonaro allies forced Lula's campaign to make a direct denial on social media: "Lula has no pact nor has he ever conversed with the devil."
But unlike the 2018 presidential campaign, when Lula's Workers Party was largely isolated and unprepared for a digital dirty war in the closing weeks of the race, the former president has an array of allies joining him in the online trenches.
Internet personality Felipe Neto, with 15 million followers on Twitter and nearly 17 million on Instagram, once pushed for the impeachment of Lula's Workers Party successor, but now defends Lula daily online while amplifying attacks on Bolsonaro.
Congressman Andre Janones, whose centrist party had shown support for Bolsonaro's agenda in Congress, called off his own presidential run to support Lula, bringing a bulldog tenacity to online debates.
"Janones is a spin doctor of the digital world," said Malini, the new media specialist. "The fierce attacks and counter-attacks based on rumor, half-truths and innuendo have made this election a Brazilian soap opera."
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito; Editing by Brad Haynes and Paul Simao)
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