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U.S. Right Helps, Cheers Rise of Brazilian Authoritarian
The rising political tide of right-wing nationalist movements appears poised to crest next in Brazil, where a torture-supporting apologist for military dictatorships and police killings appears to be headed for a victory in this Sunday’s presidential election. The U.S. right-wing is cheering his rise.
Legislator Jair Bolsonaro is riding a wave of public anger over crime and corruption, with a lot of help from the military, big agricultural interests, and conservative evangelicals—the “Bullets, Beef and Bibles” caucus. A Bolsonaro victory could signal “a major step toward authoritarianism,” writes Michael Albertus at Foreign Policy.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro gave a “fiery and confrontational speech” to supporters in which he reportedly pledged to jail his opponent and said, “These red criminals will be banished from our homeland.” Said Bolsonaro, “It will be a cleansing never seen in the history of Brazil”—a frightening promise given the brutality of the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985.
Bolsonaro excels at hateful rhetoric. He once said that he would rather his son die in a car accident than be gay. He has called Afro-Brazilians lazy and fat. He told a female legislator that she wasn’t even worth raping. He publicly dedicated his congressional vote to impeach former President Dilma Rousseff to the head of a torture unit under which she was tortured during the military dictatorship. He has praised Chile’s dictator Pinochet, who killed thousands, for doing “what had to be done.”
We reported in August that Bolsonaro was getting a boost from former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. And we noted that U.S. Religious Right groups have been operating in Brazil as part of the globalization of the “culture wars,” even as the Koch brothers’ donor networks fueled pro-business libertarian groups in the country. Private companies have reportedly flouted Brazilian election law by spending millions to promote Bolsonaro’s candidacy.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/u-s-right-helps-cheers-rise-of-brazilian-authoritarian/
Legislator Jair Bolsonaro is riding a wave of public anger over crime and corruption, with a lot of help from the military, big agricultural interests, and conservative evangelicals—the “Bullets, Beef and Bibles” caucus. A Bolsonaro victory could signal “a major step toward authoritarianism,” writes Michael Albertus at Foreign Policy.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro gave a “fiery and confrontational speech” to supporters in which he reportedly pledged to jail his opponent and said, “These red criminals will be banished from our homeland.” Said Bolsonaro, “It will be a cleansing never seen in the history of Brazil”—a frightening promise given the brutality of the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985.
Bolsonaro excels at hateful rhetoric. He once said that he would rather his son die in a car accident than be gay. He has called Afro-Brazilians lazy and fat. He told a female legislator that she wasn’t even worth raping. He publicly dedicated his congressional vote to impeach former President Dilma Rousseff to the head of a torture unit under which she was tortured during the military dictatorship. He has praised Chile’s dictator Pinochet, who killed thousands, for doing “what had to be done.”
We reported in August that Bolsonaro was getting a boost from former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. And we noted that U.S. Religious Right groups have been operating in Brazil as part of the globalization of the “culture wars,” even as the Koch brothers’ donor networks fueled pro-business libertarian groups in the country. Private companies have reportedly flouted Brazilian election law by spending millions to promote Bolsonaro’s candidacy.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/u-s-right-helps-cheers-rise-of-brazilian-authoritarian/
Seriously, if these dipshits were around during the revolutionary war, we'd still be under British rule.
