Meet the New Brazil. A Lot Like the Old Brazil. | Americas Quarterly

"But the truth is that, if elected, Bolsonaro will have tremendous power. And – sadly – he will face relatively little pressure from society to respect human rights or democratic rules of the game. After the multiple crises of recent years, just 8 percent of Brazilians now say representative democracy is a “very good” form of government – the lowest of 38 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center. In contrast, nearly 40 percent of respondents told Pew that military rule would be good for the country.

Even if Bolsonaro loses, this reawakened side of Brazil seems here to stay. If he wins, there are signs that what’s coming could be a vindictive, bloody regime. Bolsonaro’s rhetoric has not moderated as the election draws closer. On national TV in late August, he said criminals are “not normal human beings,” and that police “who kill 10, 15 or 20 (people) with 10 or 30 bullets each … should be decorated, not prosecuted.” His approach is also spawning imitators – João Doria, the frontrunner to become the next governor of São Paulo, said this week that state police under his watch “will shoot to kill.” Two weeks ago, a founder of the Facebook group “Women United Against Bolsonaro” was severely beaten by three men waiting in the doorway of her house in Rio. Leftist legislators in Rio have related a sharp rise in death threats and other intimidation as the election draws closer."
read article by Brian Winter

Meet the New Brazil. A Lot Like the Old Brazil. | Americas Quarterly: History helps explain Jair Bolsonaro’s surge to the cusp of the presidency, writes AQ’s editor-in-chief.