{"id":52347,"date":"2022-09-14T12:10:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T19:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=52347"},"modified":"2022-09-14T12:10:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T19:10:16","slug":"ordinary-brazilians-go-hungry-as-bolsonaro-threatens-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=52347","title":{"rendered":"Ordinary Brazilians Go Hungry as Bolsonaro Threatens Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Fernando Cruz<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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(Above: An image of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/em><\/p>\n

Leer en\u00a0espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is ratcheting up his attacks against the nation\u2019s democratic institutions in the run up to the October 2 presidential elections. But with rising inflation, high unemployment, and staggering rates of poverty the president\u2019s gambit could backfire.<\/p>\n

While threatening democracy may appeal to his base, it may not be the best strategy for winning over Brazilians focused on bread-and-butter issues.<\/p>\n

According to recent polling Bolsonaro trails his opponent, left leaning former President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva. And while he has managed to\u00a0narrow the gap<\/a>\u00a0in recent days, for millions of Brazilians struggling with rising food prices and persistently high unemployment, messages about the overall state of democracy and the fallibility of Brazil\u2019s institutions will fall flat.<\/p>\n

At the height of the pandemic Brazil\u2019s unemployment rate hovered at around 15%. That is nearly 15 million people out of work. Since then, the numbers have come down, though millions continue to depend on the informal economy for their livelihood.<\/p>\n

Soaring food prices, meanwhile, have heightened food insecurity in a nation where\u00a033 million<\/a>\u00a0people are already struggling with hunger and malnutrition and where\u00a070% of families<\/a>\u00a0face crippling debt. For many Brazilians, how the next president will help put food on the table is the only issue that matters.<\/p>\n

And unlike in 2018, when a political crisis and allegations of rampant corruption engulfed the left, this election cycle has seen a resurgence of left-leaning candidates, not only in Brazil but across\u00a0much of Latin America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Manuel Ortiz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In their campaign rhetoric, meanwhile, as Bolsonaro continues to undermine the nation\u2019s democracy, Lula has made poverty and inequality a\u00a0key priority<\/a>, a message that is sure to resonate with many who recall the\u00a0social gains<\/a>\u00a0achieved during his previous tenure.<\/p>\n

Still, the country remains deeply divided, with rising fears of political violence come election day and concerns about where the military stands when it comes to a potential crisis if Bolsonaro refuses to accept defeat. Many Brazilians still vividly remember the two decades of repressive military rule that ended in 1985.<\/p>\n

And it is no secret that Bolsonaro yearns for those days, with oft repeated statements defending the coup d\u2019\u00e9tat that initiated Brazil\u2019s military dictatorship and his apparent willingness to launch another coup even at the cost of \u201c30 thousand\u201d lives in order to retain his hold on power.<\/p>\n

In his latest attacks, Bolsonaro has gone after the nation\u2019s electoral process, going so far as to\u00a0invite foreign dignitaries<\/a>\u00a0to a luncheon meeting where he sought to sow doubts about electronic voting systems that have been in place since the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n

He has also targeted members of Brazil\u2019s Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court, whose new head,\u00a0Alexandre de Moraes<\/a>\u00a0is a known firebrand openly reviled by the current president.<\/p>\n

For Bolsonaro the threat from Moraes comes in part from his focus on online political misinformation, which has been a key tool for Bolsonaro throughout his presidency, allowing him to shape the message on a range of issues \u2014 from Covid vaccines to Amazon deforestation and of course the coming election.<\/p>\n

In a recent standoff, Moraes has gone after the president\u2019s business associates for private text messages in support of a Bolsonaro-led coup d\u2019\u00e9tat.<\/p>\n

Whatever the outcome of this latest scuffle, one of many involving the scandal prone president, what is clear is that as of now Bolsonaro is looking at possible \u2014\u00a0if likely\u00a0\u2014 defeat at the polls come October.<\/p>\n

And the fact is that none of the political theatrics he is known for will matter if at the end of the day he fails to convince voters that he has the solutions to the economic crisis for which he is partially responsible.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro is politically weak. He remains unpopular with wide swaths of Brazil\u2019s electorate. And he has no international support to\u00a0embark upon an adventure that would jeopardize Latin America\u2019s largest democracy.<\/p>\n

In the end, he may very well end up being the first President in Brazilian history to fail to win reelection.<\/p>\n

Fernando Cruz is a Brazilian journalist based in Brasilia, Brazil. Additional reporting by Peter Schurmann. This story was produced in partnership with\u00a0Peninsula 360 Press<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Global Exchange<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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