Brazil is headed to a high-stakes runoff presidential election on October 28th that will have huge implications for the largest country in Latin America, perhaps even the world.
Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, known for his ultra-conservative agenda and often compared to Trump, has polarized the country with his incendiary commentary filled with misogynistic, racist, anti-LGBT and anti-democratic views. His base of support was strengthened after he was stabbed in a failed assassination attempt on the campaign trail in September and spent most of the last weeks before the October 7th election broadcasting himself on Facebook Live from his hospital bed. He won 46 percent of the vote, just a few points shy of the 50 percent majority needed to win. Leftist Worker’s Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) candidate Fernando Haddad trailed in second with just 29 percent of the vote. They both head to a runoff election on October 28th and the elected candidate will take office in January.
The presidential election is significant for many Brazilians, who have been facing political and economic crises. In recent years, Brazil’s economy has plunged into one of the worst recessions the country has seen, mostly due to huge corruption scandals impacting Brazil’s biggest companies and implicating many top government officials. Nearly a third of Brazilians have struggled to buy food in the past year and the unemployment rate is at an all-time high with nearly 13 million people without a job. In addition, Brazil faces a security crisis with its murder rate reaching unprecedented levels in 2017, rising 3 percent within a year, due to violence associated with organized crime and corruption.
On top of all this, many Brazilians have come to distrust the government, in part due to the downfall of former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the questionable impeachment of first woman president Dilma Rousseff in 2016, both of the Worker’s Party (PT). Lula was very popular and a celebrated working-class president during his years in office from 2003-2011. He’s credited for creating a social welfare program that helped lift 20 million Brazilians out of poverty, increasing university access for black students and strengthening rights for housemaids. However, his administration has also been critiqued for perpetuating a system of bribery and corruption in order to keep the PT party in power. He hoped to make a comeback in the October elections but was barred from the race and is now serving a 12-year sentence on corruption charges which he is appealing in court. Read more via Autostraddle