Two other factors were in Bolsonaro’s favour. In 2018 new rules introduced in the wake of the Lava Jato corruption scandal were imposed to reduce both the amount of spending on political broadcasting and the length of the campaign. Dilma Rousseff and Aécio Neves had spent R$350.25m and R$227m respectively on their 2014 election campaigns, which had

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Slowly the debate about the impact of untrammelled development was becoming more heated. In part this was a product of international pressure. The apocalyptic images coming out of Serra Pelada had raised awareness considerably. Images of the Serra Pelada mine captured by the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado became iconic and synonymous with

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Loyal to the military regime’s nationalist economic policy, Bolsonaro had opposed the privatisations of state companies piloted through in the late 1990s by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and had even suggested that Cardoso should be shot for having sold off the publicly owned telecoms company, as well as stakes in the state-owned mining and

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For the parties of the Centrão there was little to be gained from supporting a government that was increasingly unpopular and regarded as inept by the most powerful and wealthy interests in the country. Two decisions by the Supreme Court in the second half of March had a big impact on the political landscape ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

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Bolsonaro’s infatuation with the army was, in a way, surprising. Born in 1955, he was the second child of Percy Geraldo ‘Gerardo’ and Olinda Bolsonaro, Brazilians of largely Italian descent, and had grown up in modest circumstances. Gerardo made a living repairing and extracting teeth and making dentures, although he had never obtained the

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Brazil drug gangs have unusual origins in the sense that there is an overlap between both the First Command and the Red Command and the left-wing guerrilla groups that fought the military dictatorship from the late 1960s. The Red Command was formed in 1971 by prisoners at the Cândido Mendes gaol on Ilha Grande, across the water from the seaside

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Bolsonaro’s campaign propaganda targeting the idea of a liberal and left-wing conspiracy was influenced in part by Carvalho’s writing. “2018 is the last chance to recover Brazil”, began a post on the family blog. “Brazil was taken from us in 1985 and from then until now the same corrupt system has been maintained in power.” And later, “Sarney,

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Few businesses chose to take advantage of the other incentives made available by Rousseff’s administration, and Brazil’s investment rate proved stubbornly low. Indeed, there is evidence that companies took the cheap loans simply in order to invest in government paper. In such cases, the government was effectively subsidising companies to leave

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Eighteen months on from his election win, it seemed that the broad political alliance that linked his hardcore extremist supporters to the middle-class supporters of Doria and anti-PT business groups was falling apart. The economy was beginning to tank and it was taking Bolsonaro’s ratings with it. His eldest son, Flávio, was under judicial

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