Far-Right Candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, Elected President of Brazil: Why You Should Care

In October, Brazil elected far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro for President. Along with a long thread of homophobic, racist, and sexist quotes, he’s enabled a new Brazilian generation fueled on hateful speech.
There’s been an influx of violence in Brazil beginning at the infancy of Bolsonaro’s Presidential campaign.
Media has referenced Bolsonaro as a fascist, populist, and self-proclaimed Brazilian Churchill. Brazil is under a sheet of uncertainty regarding whether or not his problematic stances will be implemented during his presidency.
By highlighting quotes endorsed by the President-elect, it will provide a glimpse into the possible future of Brazil’s leadership.
In 2013, Bolsonaro declared himself “a proud homophobe“. Prior to his Presidential campaign, he was a Congressman with a notorious reputation of expressing homophobic, racist, and sexist stances.
Bolsonaro expressed that he is “ incapable of loving a homosexual child”. If his son was gay, Bolsonaro explains he’d be dead in his eyes and he’d prefer he die in a deadly accident. Throughout his political career, he has never concealed his anti-LGBT+ views.
Host of Stephen Fry: Out There, a show that explores homophobia around the world, Stephen Fry interviewed Bolsonaro in 2013 where he described his experience with Bolsonaro as a “chilling confrontation”. When Bolsonaro announced his campaign for President, Fry pleaded with Brazil to not elect him.
When it comes to Bolsonaro quotes in reference to women—they also elicit a strong response from the public. In 2014, congresswoman, Maria do Rosario, called him a rapist for supporting the military despite their violations of rape and torture.
In response, Bolsonaro said he is not a rapist, and if he were one, she wouldn’t be worthy of rape. He also added that she was very ugly in the following interview.
The indigenous people who live in designated land in the Amazon are now at risk.
He signed an executive order that will lead to “an increase in deforestation and violence against indigenous people.” Others are also worried that his presidency will further destroy the Amazon Rain Forest rather than protect it.
Bolsonaro is an avid apologist for torture. When Brazil was under a military dictatorship, Bolsonaro claims that it failed because they didn’t torture or kill enough.
A solution proposed by Bolsonaro to save Brazil is to start a civil war. A war that could potentially kill thousands, but for what?
Repeatedly, he has said that he will only govern for his supporters. When it comes to those who are against him, his solution is that they either fall in line with his ideology, leave the country, or go to jail.
There have been instances of Bolsonaro supporters murdering others in his name. Rather than Bolsonaro expressing his disapproval with their actions, he concludes that he has no control over them.
His hateful speech has triggered a cycle of violence between his supporters and opposition. Since the announcement of his victory, thousands of Brazilians have challenged his term.
Many worry that he will lead Brazil back under authoritarianism rule. It is important for the opposition to remain persistent and to fight for human rights.

By: Vivianna Shields

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