Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a former military man, populist and was considered as an outsider in the political scene has been gaining attention these past few months. From his extremist personality and blatant policies toward oppositions and enemies, he then gained popularity by his promises to fight crimes, corruption, and elevate Brazil back to its former glory, which then led to his presidential victory. Right now, there is a growing concern amongst the people of Brazil and what danger the current President might bring to the once proud democratic country.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a former military man, populist and was considered as an outsider in the political scene has been gaining attention these past few months. From his extremist personality and blatant policies toward oppositions and enemies, he then gained popularity by his promises to fight crimes, corruption, and elevate Brazil back to its former glory, which then led to his presidential victory. Right now, there is a growing concern amongst the people of Brazil and what danger the current President might bring to the once proud democratic country.
The Amazon Fire
The news first broke out through social media when netizens have spread awareness about a huge fire that hit the Amazon Forest, losing one of the few remaining lungs of earth. With the world’s largest forest under fire, who is now to be blamed? All fingers pointed to the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who had many questionable moves in his environment ministry and environmental policies. Majority of his appointees are said to be anti-climate change supporters and denied that climate change even exist. This had promoted deforestation and displaced thousands of animal species and indigenous people. Looking into the perspective of the president, Bolsonaro has one thing in mind right now; profiting over mining and large plantation companies. He terminates anyone who goes in his way, including numerous scientists that warned him about the increasing and alarming rate of deforestation.
Nearly one million indigenous people in Brazil have suffered because of the huge budget cuts Bolsonaro made against agencies that were protecting the forest. Thus, also displacing the people that are protecting the forest. A huge blow to our mother earth indeed. What makes Bolsonaro’s policies even more dangerous is that it gives leeway to mining industries to do what they want over the lands in the Amazon. Numerous cases of killings of environmental leaders were being reported these past few months, a result of irresponsible and ignorant decisions for the sake of profit.
The spread of wildfires in the Amazon forest have slowed down as of recent because of President Bolsonaro’s order to send the military forces to slowing down the spread of the forest fires. Brazil’s environment minister told the BBC that the government was doing an “excellent” job in protecting the Amazon, but campaigners say it could be doing more than just stopping fires in one region for 60 days.
“All of these dramatic changes have occurred not only from ideology but also political captivity. Along with rightwing evangelicals and supporters of Brazil’s past military dictatorship, Brazil’s powerful agribusiness sector is a critical component of the coalition that swept Bolsonaro into office” (Miranda 2019). The way how the problem in the Amazon forest is being faced right now, Bolsonaro’s aggressive and contradicting policies, and historical manipulations have no signs of slowing down. As Brazil’s democracy is at risk, our nature is part of it.
A Sudden Shift in Brazil’s Political Landscape
Many of Jair Bolsonaro’s promises are yet to be fulfilled, but the citizens of Brazil are clamoring for change. The left and the right movement are also in disarray due to the release of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that was imprisoned and sentenced for 9 years because of corruption. The release caused a huge shift in Brazil’s political landscape. Lula and his supporters are said to be poised in attempting for a comeback to the presidential seat and are already exchanging attacks with the current Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro. The popularity of the leftist former president is still there, and the clamor for change of the people of Brazil is threatening Jair Bolsonaro’s desire to stay in power. The longing for change is inevitable, and what Jair Bolsonaro can and might do to preserve his power is still unknown. With the recent pronouncement of Bolsonaro, it looks like the Brazilian President is looking for allies. As a self-proclaimed, Trump supporter, Bolsonaro suddenly changed his stand with his foreign relations with China. The Brazilian President’s tip-toes with the major powers: United States and China would be a major factor for Brazil’s economy, which can also salvage Bolsonaro’s legacy and help him gain more popularity for the next election against his leftist counterpart.
As dark and dangerous times still haunts democracy in Brazil, the fate of it will now depend into the hands of its people. The lefts are back in the picture, the balance within the political landscape of Brazil between the left and the right will now determine the future of its democracy. Obviously, something needs to be done and someone must stand up against the fascist tendency of the current Brazilian administration, in order to prevent the complete deterioration of its democracy.
References
(2019, June 11). Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-10841416
(2019, November 13). Retrieved from South China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3037518/economy-mind-brazils-trump-tropics-jair-bolsonaro-softens-tone
Miranda, D. (2019, August 26). Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/26/fires-are-devouring-the-amazon-and-jair-bolsonaro-is-to-blame
Image Retrieved from : https://www.brasil247.com/regionais/brasilia/jair-bolsonaro-afirma-que-e-direito-de-lula-ficar-preso-quer-ficar-fica-disse
Xiara Magtibay
The release and declaration of the political comeback of Lula with him seeking to influence the coming 2022 election will have an effect on both sides that can either be advantageous or not. Considering the comeback of the former president who presided over Brazil in a period of rapid economic growth that uplifted the middle class and whose Bolsa Familia’s welfare program has helped a lot of poor families can indeed be a weapon against Bolsonaro’s decreasing approval rating. Despite being convicted for corruption and money laundering, Lula is still popular with quite a number of Brazilians. However, we can’t still disregard the fact that Lula’s reputation has been tarnished by the charges against. Even though we have yet to determine how he will influence the 2022 elections. Will his influence be effective enough against Bolsonaro? Moreover, the now wounded political animal is not yet free from the charges against him. Even though the Supreme Court has ruled that a person whose appeals have not yet been exhausted cannot be imprisoned, Lula’s appeals are still pending and a possibility of him winding back in prison. If such becomes a reality then can the Worker’s Party still stand a chance? This brings to mind Hunter and Power’s article, Bolsonaro and Brazil’s Illiberal Backlash, where they noted that one of the major failures of the Worker’s Party is their overreliance on Lula’s influence. They seem to cannot let go of Lula that even his hand-picked successor and replacement were promoted under his influence, the Lula rhetoric. Amid all of these, the Worker’s Party might as well think of another strategy that may help them to regain their dominant rule without being too dependent on their star, Lula, because as we all know stars do fall from the sky.