Political Regression in Brazil By: Jennifer Juptner
Thirty years ago, a New York Times article published this week describes, Brazil was ruled by a military regime. Presidents of Brazil were military generals who repressed citizens while pursuing capitalism in an attempt to modernize industry. According to the article, while the government ruthlessly pushed to modernize industry, the civil sector of Brazil pushed back to modernize the structure of the government.
It paid off, according to Scholastic, and Brazil elected its first non-military president in 1985. Since 1988, Brazil has been a democratic country and ruled by a constitution.
Today, a freshly elected president of Brazil hopes to bring back the idea of a military government. President Bolsonaro is quoted in the New York Times as saying, “We will never resolve serious national problems with this irresponsible democracy.” During his presidential campaign, Bolsonaro argued the people of Brazil want the military to come back into power and advocates the killing of criminals by law enforcement (New York Times).
Many articles discussing the election in Brazil compare Bolsonaro to president Trump. Like Trump, Bolsonaro has been quoted as being sexist, racist, and homophobic. However, this has not hindered Bolsonaro’s political campaign. In fact, it seems Brazilians are as attracted to language that breaks the “status-quo” as Americans. Trump congratulated Bolsonaro on Twitter early Monday morning.
After the election, Bolsonaro promised that the government would uphold the country’s constitution and democratic principles. In his home on Facebook Live this week, Bolsonaro discussed plans to respect the teachings of God alongside the Brazilian constitution.
It is uncertain how the new president of Brazil will represent certain groups, like women and the LGBTQ community. One has to ask, should progression of economy and industry have to result in a regression of societal values? President Bolsonaro has promised to change the country and his democratic win proves Brazilians are looking change. Maybe president Bolsonaro will be the change they are looking for, or perhaps, he will not.