Violence, Crisis and Resistance in Bolsonaro's Brazil
Violence, Crisis and Resistance in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
How did Bolsonaro win Brazil's election? What will happen now?
Violence, Crisis and Resistance in Bolsonaro's Brazil
Tatiana Cozzarelli
@tcozzar1
November 04, 2018
Within 24 hours of Jair Bolsonaro becoming the president-elect of Brazil, 8 people were killed, including a baby that was shot by stray bullet at a rally. A Haddad supporter was killed in a campaign rally by a Bolsonaro supporter in the northern state of Ceará, where Haddad won with over 70% of the votes. In the month since the primary elections, over 50 people have experienced political violence at the hands of Bolsonaro supporters, with some people violently killed. This includes Mestre Moa, a capoeira instructor and anti-racist activist who was brutally murdered.
Last Sunday, Jair Bolsonaro was elected President of the world’s fourth-largest democracy. In the first round of the elections, the traditional parties performed abysmally. Especially the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), which in the last elections went to the runoffs against former President Dilma Rousseff, fell from 33% in 2014 to 4.77% this year.
The Workers’ Party (PT, Partido de Trabalhadores), which controlled the executive branch for much of the 21st century, was crushed in the first round, losing to Bolsonaro by 17 points. In the second round, the PT gained some ground but still lost by 10 points, giving Bolsonaro a decisive victory.
These elections were not only marked by violence but are also the most undemocratic elections since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985. Former President and front-runner, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is currently serving a prison sentence for an arbitrary conviction. These elections are first and foremost an example of the ways that the Brazilian right will violate “democracy” in order to secure greater profits for the capitalists and more austerity for the working class.
More:
http://www.leftvoice.org/Violence-Crisis-and-Resistance-in-Bolsonaro-s-Brazil