Moore 1

Caroline Moore

Mr. Phillips

AP English 1

14 December 2018

The Trump of the Tropics

You are a young, black male from Brazil, where crime rates have been on the rise for

decades, and crime is rampant on the streets. You have seen friends and family murdered on the

streets and police doing absolutely nothing to combat it. People who look like you are nine times

more likely to be killed compared to your white counterparts, and your corrupt government does

absolutely nothing to stop it (Faiola and Lopes). A new politician has surfaced, and despite his

insensitive remarks and twisted values, he promises to rid Brazil of crime, so you vote for him.

This is the reality of millions of Brazilians who have suffered for decades, first as a result of

Brazil’s former military regime, and now from the political corruption that has overtaken

Brazil’s government. Brazilians are desperate for a change, which is part of the reason Jair

Bolsonaro was elected. Jair Bolsonaro, an advocate of right-wing policies, has made promises to

“cleanse” Brazil of corruption, a promise that has become increasingly attractive to the people of

this corruption-riddled country. Bolsonaro plans to do this by making it easier to bear arms and

allowing police to use lethal force against civilians (Darlington). He has used disgusting rhetoric

to attack women, people of color, and members of the LGBT community in Brazil, and matters

will only get worse under his rule. The New York Times described him as: “The latest in a long

line of populists who have ridden a wave of discontent, frustration, and desperation to the highest

office in each of their countries” (“Brazil’s Sad Choice”). The election of Bolsonaro as president
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will negatively impact women and other marginalized groups, as well as do little to improve the

growing crime rates.

Jair Bolsonaro is a former congressman and retired military officer who was recently voted

as the president-elect of Brazil. Bolsonaro is a proponent of right wing policies, and voices

himself as very pro-gun, even advocating for Brazil’s former military dictatorship (a regime that

used methods such as torture and kidnapping) (Wallenfeldt). Throughout his 27 year tenure as

congressman, he has voiced his opposition to many topics such as: same sex marriage,

immigration (particularly from Africa and the Middle East), abortion, affirmative action, equal

pay, and environmental regulations (Wallenfeldt). Distrust of current government leaders,

antipathy with Brazil’s political corruption, and Bolsonaro’s outspoken and unapologetic

demeanor have made him popular among educated, young, working middle-class voters. Despite

his defamatory and slanderous comments towards women, people of color, and members of the

LGBT community, he is still very popular among young people.

Jair Bolsonaro has provoked controversy throughout the years due to his derogatory and

disparaging remarks about women, including comments that belittle rape and defend the gender

pay gap. In 2015 during a congressional debate, he told Congresswoman Maria de Rosario that

she was “not worth raping, she is very ugly.” This statement drew considerable disapproval

throughout Brazil, and de Rosario later sued Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro once even claimed that

having a daughter was a “moment of weakness” (Waiselfisz). In a 2015 interview with the

magazine Zero Hora, Bolsonaro argued that men and women should not receive the same

salaries because women get pregnant, and therefore have paid maternity leave. He then

continued his argument by stating that federal law mandating paid maternity leave harms work

productivity (Lima). Bolsonaro’s views towards women will only serve to further the divide
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between men and women in Brazil, a country where 1 in 4 women report being victims of

physical or psychological violence, and over 70% of Brazilian women will suffer some kind of

violence through their lifetime (Waiselfisz). In October, in the city of Porto Alegre, a 19 year

old girl was attacked by three Bolsonaro supporters as she stepped off of a bus. The perpetrators

violently beat and harassed her for wearing a shirt voicing her opposition to Bolsonaro. The

attackers then proceeded to carve a swastika into her abdomen with a knife (Diario). While

Bolsonaro is not directly telling his supporters to behave in this way, his spiteful remarks are

almost encouraging this behavior. When people see their beloved presidential candidate voicing

his opposition to women’s or any other group’s rights, they feel as if it is acceptable to attack

people in this way. The disgusting statements Bolsonaro has made towards women are only the

first among a long list of concerning comments targeted towards minorities.

LGBT issues have long been an issue in Brazil, and the election of Bolsonaro will only serve

to further these issues. In 2017, Brazil saw a record 445 reports of murders of LGBT Brazilians,

the highest rate in the world (Yakupitiyage). LGBT groups estimate that 35 is the life expectancy

of transgender Brazilians, as many are brutally murdered or commit suicide (Prengaman and

Silva de Sousa). People fear that the amount of these hate crimes will only get worse with the

election of Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro has never tried to hide his homophobic beliefs, and has

even been called “Brazil’s biggest homophobe” (Brydum). In a June 2011 interview with

Playboy magazine, Bolsonaro stated that “I would be incapable of loving a gay son” and then

went on to say that he would prefer any gay son of his to “die in an accident” (Brydum). The

fear that these hate crimes will only persist as a result of Bolsonaro’s election is very real, as

expressed by Bruna Benevides, from the National Association of Transvestites and Transexuals.

She said that “Bolsonaro represents a “step backward”and we are very worried. But being
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transgender has never been easy. We have always been fighting [for acceptance] and will just

continue to fight” (Prengaman and Silva de Sousa). Bolsonaros’s defamatory remarks about

LGBTQ people will only serve as fuel to fire the record amounts of violence against LGBTQ

people in Brazil. When a politician feels comfortable using violent rhetoric against specific

groups, people feel empowered to insite heinous comments against these people and even act on

this hateful rhetoric with violence. Someone who is entrusted with this amount of power should

not feel comfortable openly insulting large demographics of their population in such a hateful

manner.

Brazil is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, with the percent of

people identifying as mixed race being 43.1% and the percentage of people identifying as black

being 7.6% (Brazil 2010 Census). Despite the large amount of ethnic minorities present in

Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro continues to use derogatory slander towards people of color. Bolsonaro

once said the following of a settlement of the descendents of slaves: “They do nothing. They are

not even good for procreation” (Forrest). He has also reportedly referred to black activists as

“animals” who need “ to go back to the zoo” (Forrest). His racist influence can already be seen

throughout Brazil. Recently, social media photos circulated online of a bathroom door at a

university in Sao Paulo with the words, “Blacks will die. Here, we’re for Bolsonaro” spray

painted on (Forrest). While this act did not directly harm anyone, the threat is still there, and

frankly it's terrifying. The repercussions of Bolsonaro’s presidency on the minorities of Brazil

have already begun, and he hasn’t even been inaugurated yet.

Violent crime in Brazil is unbridled, with the homicide rate being among the highest in

the world, with nearly 64,000 people murdered in 2017 (Brazil’s wrong turn) . In recent years,

the homicides rates have increased in part due to the surrounding drug gangs and cartels. These
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gangs battle for territory across the borders Brazil shares with three of the biggest cocaine

producers in the world; Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru. Bolsonaro’s plan to resist this is to give

civilians more access to firearms and allow police officers to use lethal force against people. This

plan is largely seen as rash and dangersome and seems to be a result of Bolsonaro’s own

inventions about what he believes will solve Brazil’s ongoing crime issues. Ilona Szabo, the

director of the Igarape Institute, an organization based in Rio de Janeiro that focuses on federal

security issues agrees, saying,“There is no basis of evidence to suggest that what he proposes

will work, Things will get worse. The police will kill more. There will be more extrajudicial

killings, especially of people in the slums and of blacks” (Faiola and Lopes). Bolsonaro’s plan is

reminiscent of the former military dictatorship in Brazil, a dictatorship that was responsible for

the torture, kidnapping, and rape of hundreds of Brazilians. If Bolsonaro is to implement this

plan, crime will only worsen as already violent citizens have access to deadly weapons.

Bolsonaro’s belief is that citizens will finally be able to protect themselves with access to guns,

and while this may be true, criminals are also given easier access to firearms that can and will be

used to terrorize and kill.

Brazil has a long history of political corruption, with more than one hundred federally

elected officials, four former presidents, and the current president under investigation or in

prison. For Brazilians, Bolsonaro represents the opposite of the era of political corruption. In

him, they see traditional family values,“a time of law and order,” and a booming economy as he

plays to the nostalgia older voters have for the previous military dictatorship. Bolsonaro’s values

are a sharp juxtaposition to those of Brazil’s fraudulent and untrustworthy politicians, and this

juxtaposition helps to create a sharp divide between them. People vote for Bolsonaro simply

because he does not hold the same values as previous politicians, and they see this as a positive
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thing. Despite his history of attacking women and minorities, people still vote for Bolsonaro

because he represents possible change and hope for a better future. Elba Ribeiro, a social worker

from Belo Horizonte who voted for Bolsonaro said that: “I support him because he’s an honest

guy with a firm grip. He represents the liberation of a country that has been suffering under so

much corruption, from so much thievery. He removes definitively the possibility of the

communist wave in Latin America reaching Brazil” (Mercer and Ross). Brazilians are so sick of

being lied to and being constantly given false hope, that they don’t care if their president is

racist, misogynistic, or homophobic, they just want a president who will lead Brazil in a positive

direction.

Bolsonaro’s effect on women and minority groups will only be exacerbated as his

presidential rule continues. Bolsonaro’s political discourse is constructed to increase the

suppression of those who struggle against homophobia, racism, and sexism. There is no doubt

that he will continue to ridicule and demean various minority groups throughout Brazil, and his

followers will continue to follow in his footsteps. The fact that one person can impair the lives of

so many just by utilizing belittling slander is cause for concern. Brazilians need to stay united in

this desperate time and hope that their democratic institutions such as Congress and the Supreme

Federal Court remain allied against any potential pernicious teachings from Bolsonaro.

Works Cited-

“Brazil's Sad Choice." New York Times, 22 Oct. 2018, pp. p. A.22. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://sks.sirs.com.

"Brazil's wrong turn; Jair Bolsonaro." Toronto Star [Toronto, Ontario], 30 Oct. 2018, p. A10.
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Global Issues in Context

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