Outcry As Bolsonaro's Son Questions Value Of Democracy In Brazil [View all]
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.
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