Ask him. Put pressure on him.
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I've asked. I'll let you knowComment
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thanks. I have a gay friend whose husband is Brazilian. He put the same points, and eventually persuaded him to vote against BolsaneroComment
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I have a similar experience with my friends and acquaintances. Whereas a few years ago, Bolsonaro was considered an outlandish fringe character, he is now mainstream and there is little stigma in expressing a preference for him - and not just in middle class, relatively rich areas.
There are three main issues for Brazilian voters; the economy, crime and corruption. On all three of these, Bolsonaro is wiping the floor with Haddad.
Brazil’s economy was the last major world economy to go into recession after the crash. It’s worth looking at these figures:
https://www.focus-economics.com/countries/brazil
Since 2013, GDP per capita has fallen by nearly 20% and unemployment has almost doubled. The fall in oil and commodity prices has hit hard. Budgetary constraints mean the social reforms in welfare, housing and education have been abandoned. Crime is rampant. There were a scarcely believable 64,000 violent deaths in Brazil last year. Corruption is endemic in nearly all parties and, though Lula’s alleged crimes were at the lower end of the scale, the PT were at the heart of it.
It’s worth looking at Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro’s state, as a microcosm of the problem. The state is effectively bankrupt. The royalties from the offshore oil never materialised, they have difficulty in paying public workers and have abandoned the pacification programmes which had previously brought some degree of security to the favelas. They are now back in the hands of the traficantes and residents are in constant danger from factional battles for control. Other areas are under the control of militias, formed by ex-police and soldiers who run protection rackets in return for some sort of law and order. The state has had to ask Temer for assistance and the army are now helping to police the streets and favelas but there has been little impact on crime rates.
Unemployment is biting hard. There are more people sleeping rough and there are both more desperate people and opportunists taking advantage of the general atmosphere of lawlessness. Many people are reluctant to go out at night and, in a further blow to the economy, tourism has collapsed. Rio has been ruled for many years by the PMDB, erstwhile allies of the PT. The former Governor, Sergio Cabral has been jailed for 40 years for corruption. And they haven’t even begun to investigate the many allegations of corruption involving the Olympics in which Rio politicians are implicated.
So Bolsonaro’s deceptively simplistic solutions have a certain appeal. He has a relatively clean slate in terms of corruption. His solution for crime is to give the police licence to shoot more bandidos, to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 and to relax gun ownership laws for ‘good citizens’. On the economy, he has relatively little to say but has appointed a University of Chicago free-marketeer Paulo Guedes. With the economy in its current state, many people are willing to embrace any prospect of change, though it’s not clear how different it will be from the current Temer government.
Haddad’s problem is that, although it was the PT and Lula’s support that enabled him to reach the run-off, it is also what will prevent him from beating Bolsonaro. Outside the North-East, their reputation has been shredded by corruption, perceived economic incompetence and, on the flimsiest of evidence, an association with Venezuela and Cuba. Ciro Gomes of the PDT would have had a much better chance of building a broader alliance but the PT election machine ensured that he won only his home state of Ceará and finished in third place.Comment
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This is such a shit world we’ve created. “Disrupters” can all fuck off. I could sleep for a thousand years.Comment
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Recent polls have shown Haddad narrowing the gap, but probably not fast enough. The last one had Bolsonaro leading 54:46.
Voting has now finished except in the state of Acré. Results due at 10pm.Comment
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Exit poll:
Bolsonaro 56%
Haddad 44%
Margin of error +/- 2%Comment
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Exit polls reflected in actual votes with more than 88% counted.
Bolsonaro 55.7%
Haddad 44.3%Comment
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Bolsonaro wins in four of the five regions. Exception is the North-East.Comment
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Bolsonaro's man in Rio, Wilson Witzel beats Eduardo Paes 60% - 40% and is the new State Governor.Comment
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Heaven help us all.Comment
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I bet the fucking Evangelicals (45m of them I think) have massively voted for that fascist.
https://twitter.com/domphillips/status/1056662200788639746
God, how I abhor this fucking "X is honest, he is a straight talker" shite. Reminds me so much of this famous New Yorker cartoon:
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Haddad wins all 9 states in the North East plus Pará and Tocantins in the North.
Bolsonaro wins the other 16.Comment
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bollocks
hopefully i won't be of drafting age by the time ww3 kicks offComment
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Fucking Jesus fuck.Comment
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I mean, as well as the poor bastards in Brazil getting fucked by this, there's also the small matter of the world ending once the Amazon is dead.Comment
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Who cares? Tough on crime, tough on corruption, a free market economy!
Or, death squads, mind bending corruption and currency devaluations ahoy.
No one gives a fuck about the planet, or they wouldn't keep electing these cunts.Comment
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Weirdly affected by reading the words of Juninho this morning (from a couple of weeks back I think).
"At heart I am grateful to the clown. He showed us that those who sit to eat with us and share our food are closet fascists, who take advantage of this particular moment.
It could be any relative, or a friend. Reactionaries will not be welcome in my house or in my life."Comment
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Br-(n)azi-LComment
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Well, with the rainforest about to be shredded, it surely is pointless for me to personally give a flying fuck about the environment myself. Time to crack open a beer and make like this guy:
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