Brazil’s new president fizzles in his overseas debut

"Rafael Locks, a 30-year-old Brazilian technician living in the Swiss town of Lausanne, stood next to one gated area with his mother, who was wrapped in a Brazilian flag. He said he supported the “wave of change” that Bolsonaro would bring and cheered his pledges to be tough on gang violence and corruption.

But even this die-hard supporter offered a note of caution. One of Bolsonaro’s sons, Flavio, a senator-elect, is now the subject of a series of damaging allegations over suspicious payments made to his driver as well as links to a deadly Rio de Janeiro hit squad. It’s a damning bit of news for a president who styled himself as an incorruptible crime-fighter.

“If Bolsonaro doesn’t make his son pay, make him leave politics, he may lose credibility," Locks said. Elsewhere in Davos, that’s a commodity the Brazilian president still has yet to earn."

READ ARTICLE BY ISHAAN THAROOR