The Key to Bolsonaro’s Survival

"Many supporters are motivated by the same considerations of class, privilege and race in Brazil that have always underpinned bolsonarismo, and the 1964-85 military dictatorship before that. But after spending the last 48 hours reading Brazil Twitter - God help me - and talking to numerous friends and contacts on the right, it seems that anti-petismo - opposition to the leftist Workers’ Party that governed from 2003-16 - still remains their most powerful animating force. I texted a retired Brazilian general on Sunday to ask if his views had shifted. He replied with a torrent of fresh memes and carefully edited videos, plus a list: “I’ll stop supporting President Bolsonaro… when he betrays our country and gives away money to communist dictatorships… when he uses our educational system to create functional illiterates… when the scandals are about corruption and plunder, instead of him simply firing somebody in favor of someone more qualified.” The memory of the last period of recession and scandal remains, at least for now, more potent than the current one.     "

more in article by Brian Winter

The Key to Bolsonaro’s Survival | Americas Quarterly