The presidential elections in Brazil are reaching its final stretch. The far right wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro, front runner in the first round of votes and favourite according to the recent pools for the second round, openly proposes an authoritarian and anti-popular programme for the country.
Bolsonaro supports the military dictatorship that devastated Brazil for two decades, including the torture and killings committed during that time. He is also known for his racist, sexist and LGBT-phobic statements. He once declared he would much prefer to have a
dead son rather than a gay son. He also said that women should earn less “because they get pregnant” and that his sons would never marry a black woman since “he raised them well”.
Last week, Bolsonaro’s vice candidate, a military general who defends a new coup d’état, said that his grandson was handsome due to “the whitening of his race”.
Throughout the past 28 years in his political career, he has made countless statements supporting the dictatorship, torture, violence and people’s extermination. His political trajectory is consistently related to hate speech, ignorance, intolerance and prejudice, in a complete dissonance in regards to the democratic values.
During the illegitimate government of Michel Temer, he voted for an austerity agenda that froze all public spending for health and education for the next 20 years and hinder investments in social policies. At the same time, Bolsonaro openly supports the old privileges for the politicians that rule the country, like pay rises and extra benefits considered to be immoral in a country taken by economic crisis and social injustice. The candidate is also for arming the population and the implementation of restrictions to social freedom. To sum it up, Bolsonaro wants to implement harsh cost-cutting policies and is planning to use state and paramilitary violence to make sure his project prevails.
In this electoral dispute, we have seen the increase of violent acts and displays of intolerance in Brazil with great apprehension. In this hate wave, since Bolsonaro’s influence has grown, more than 50 hate crimes were reported – among those the case of a woman who was protesting for her rights and got a swastika cut in her skin by his supporters. In another attack, a famous capoeira (Afro-Brazilian martial art) master
‘Moa do Katendê’ was stabbed to death for taking a stance against the candidate.
Bolsonaro grew with the support of the Brazilian National mass media, as well as a professional fake news network. Former Trump advisor and far-right icon Steve Bannon is collaborating on his campaign. They succeeded, with the same methods of manipulation that got Trump into the White House, to steer the desperation of many parts of the Brazilian population towards a fascist agenda. The climate in Brazil is very similar to examples of classic fascism, like Germany and Italy in the 1930s.
But this won’t be met without resistance. Before the first round of the elections, thousands of women across world capitals (around one thousand in London) took to the streets to say #NotHim loud and clear. And we’ll continue on in the streets. We must denounce this situation to both the Brazilian and international community.
On Saturday, 13th October, we attended the feminist anti-fascist demo made up of a coalition of anti-fascists groups in London.
On the 20th October, we are calling for a demonstration. We will begin the march as our own group and later join the Anti-Brexit protest. Our meeting point and route is still being defined (most likely Trafalgar Square). Check the event page for updates.
On 28th of October – on the day of the second round of the elections, we are calling for an action in front of the Brazilian Embassy.
International support and solidarity are indispensable at this moment. Join our actions, spread our voices online, help as you can.
NO PASARAN – #NotHim
Brazilian Women Against Fascism UK
Photo: Fields of Light Photography
