Outcry As Bolsonaro's Son Questions Value Of Democracy In Brazil

[appalachiablue]

Source: The Guardian

The rumbustious son of Brazil's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has come under heavy fire from across the political spectrum after claiming rapid political change was unachievable "through democratic means".

Carlos Bolsonaro - a politician and social media fanatic known for his incendiary and often unintelligible tweets - sparked the maelstrom on Monday evening with a 43-word post on Twitter. "The transformation Brazil wants will not happen at the speed we yearn for through democratic means," he tweeted to his 1.3 million followers.

That comment triggered an immediate outcry in a country that only emerged from two decades of dictatorship in 1985 and whose current leader is a notorious pro-torture admirer of that military period and other authoritarian regimes. "Yes, I'm in favour of a dictatorship," Jair Bolsonaro once told Brazil's congress. -MORE...


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/11/carlos-bolsonaro-brazil-democracy-dictatorship-jair

---

Brazil's news media reacted: the conservative Estado de So Paulo newspaper condemned Carlos Bolsonaro's "vile statement" and demanded an urgent statement from his father on the matter.

Bernardo Mello Franco of Rio's O Globo newspaper called the remark a deliberate attempt to fire up Bolsonaro's base and disguise his shortcomings as president amid a slump in support."Carlos Bolsonaro said what his dad thinks," Franco warned, pointing to the "authoritarianism in the [family's] blood". Political observer, Bruno Boghossian, likened Bolsonaro's words to those of the former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori.

Even Bolsonaro's vice-president, Hamilton Mouro, was made to comment declaring democracy "essential" to western civilization.



Carlos Bolsonaro (Far Rt.) riding with his father, Jair Bolsonaro and wife at Brazil's presidential inauguration, Jan. 1, 2019.

[sandensea]

1. "Elected" to office only by keeping the country's most popular man in jail - much to voters' regret

And, of course, by keeping him from granting interviews while the campaign was ongoing - very deliberately so, we now know thanks to The Intercept.

[appalachiablue]

2. Hope this leader and fighter for Brazil can hold on and recover

from this political experience and medical issues. Things in Brazil under the Bolsonaro boyz are looking unstable, what a difference 10 years can make.

[sandensea]

3. Hear, hear. And judging from Bolsonazi's fast-dropping approval ratings, he won't be re-elected

Brazilian voters, some of whom were no doubt lured by his tough-on-crime rhetoric, are now having serious buyer's remorse.

His despotic style and racism (in a mostly Mulatto country), his giddy support for a U.S. base on the Brazil/Peru/Colombia border, his sons' Uday/Qusay behavior, and the economic downturn (from an already slow economy inherited from Temer) - all these controversies have been steadily eroding his support among voters.

Four years of a similar experience in neighboring Argentina, with the kleptocrat neo-con Mauricio Macri, is now coming to an end - with voters rejecting Macri by 16%, despite a massive media campaign on his behalf and Trump's forcing the IMF to lend him $45 billion.

Which, of course, is all gone now - "bicycled" away, as they say in Argentina, in the biggest financial heist since the dictatorship's in 1980/81.

Here's hoping Brazilians can turn Bolso back (not until 2022, unfortunately) without quite as much hardship.

[appalachiablue]

4. Something to look forward to in future days. Hopefully

with some of the wind taken out of their sails, the damage and future cleanup will be surmountable.

[crazytown]

5. +1!

Thank you appalachiablue.

[PatSeg]

6. Looks like Brazil's version of the Trumps

[Kid Berwyn]

7. Let's first try getting rid of money buying elections.

Otherwise: Results may vary depending on ownership of national media. Ask your doctor if clean elections are sufficiently right for you. Do not take Democracy if you’re currently employed by a major money laundering bank, tyrannical figure or authoritarian regime.