Politically, Brazil is going through a seminal moment, which could be heading for an ugly turn.
The
flight into Rio De Janeiro creates an idyllic setting. The turquoise blue
waters of the South Atlantic serenade tourists and locals alike that flock to
the world-famous sandy beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. Juxtapose the depths
of the oceans’ wonders with the imposing heights of Rio’s hilly terrain. On top
of one such hill, is Rio’s iconic Christ the Redeemer, which keeps a watchful
eye over the city and the iconic Maracanã Stadium, which hosted the 2014 World
Cup finals. In one such splitting image, two of the more defining aspects of
Brazilian life, Catholicism and football (soccer for your American tongue) is
captured.
Yet I
was told by one such Brazilian academic that, Rio De Janeiro — the city of
Brazilian dreams is pretty from a distance, but it gets ugly when you get
closer. The city has long grappled with a high crime-rate, drugs and poverty
that is endemic through the favelas (popularised by the cult film City of God).
Brazil,
like the United States is one of the largest countries in the Western
Hemisphere. But the similarities aren’t just restrictive to the geographic
size; in fact the similarities get insidious. Brazil too has grappled with a
problem with rising police brutalities. With the increasing crime rates, the
lines get blurred between law enforcement and police brutality with reports of
the Brazilian police force having killed the most in 2018 and suffered the most
casualities in terms of death toll.
Although
very multi-racial, Brazil has long postured a colourful canvas of a diversified
utopia. However, visits to the Afro Brazilian museum will reveal that Brazil
was the last country to formally abolish slavery. A history of indentured
labourers and slavery with 4 million blacks that were shipped from Africa. A
whopping 45% of those individuals brought to all Americas (including the USA)
came through the shores of Rio.
A
discussion with IPEAFRO, (a nonprofit based out of Rio that deals with the
historical identity and cultural preservation of Afro-Brazilians), reveals that
there still lingers a hierarchical society in Brazil with various citizens
subtly being pegged into different classes — first, second and third class
citizens. The disparities get evident when media reports show the woeful
statistics of 73 Afro-Brazilians that die every day, translating to 3 people
per hour. In 2017, Brazil defeated its own record with 64,000 homicides
reported, beating its own record with a 3 percent increase from the year
before. Increased reports of shoot and kill without apprehension of any drugs
or weapons further accentuates the police brutalities.
Brazil
has earned the infamous reputation of being the most violent country in Latin
America and has the highest number of prisons after the United States. Gang
wars are rife in Brazil, with Rio De Janeiro (Brazil’s Los Angeles) noted to
have three gangs that control drug distribution while the commercial capital of
Sao Paulo (Brazil’s New York City) is said to have a single gang that handles
the contraband. There has been an outcry among human rights watchers to clamp
down on police brutality. The clamor is that the traffickers are simply the
poor pawns from the favelas, and little is done to clamp down on the kingpins
and the drug lords. Back in 2013, there was nearly 450 kgs of cocaine seized
from a helicopter belonging to a Brazilian senator. The death toll and violence
in the favelas means its Afro-Brazilians who are twice as more likely to die as
compared to their non-black counterparts.
Politically,
Brazil is going through a seminal moment. The largest country in South America,
which has traditionally voted in social democratic parties, flirted with the
far-right movement in 2018. Brazil had one of the most expensive elections in
the world, more than the world’s oldest democracy, the United States in 2016,
but lesser than the largest democracy, India in its 2019 elections.
Enter
Jair Bolsonaro, a former military man turned politician of the Social Liberal
Party a far-right conservative party. He espouses several values of the
conservative tea-party GOP movement in the US by declaring his opposition to
same-sex marriage, homosexuality, abortion, affirmative action (reservations in
India), and critics even point out his disdain for secularism. Dubbed as
Brazil’s Donald Trump, the far-right candidate wooed the Brazilian working
class (one poll stated that a majority of cab drivers across Rio De Janerio and
Sao Paulo voted for the current president) stating that all the other parties
were corrupt and his message was to eradicate crime and corruption but turning
Brazil back to its ‘traditional way in terms of faith’. Brazilian academics
note that the bill to curb corruption now gives the law enforcement more
authority to use force. Apart from minorities, there has been increased
violence against women and members of the LGBTQ community.
There is
a fear that Bolsonaro aside; his cabinet is stocked with eccentric individuals
with dangerous ideas. The former education minister who was recently sacked,
came with his share of controversies. Ricardo Velez wanted to rewrite school
textbooks to describe the 1964-85 post-coup military dictatorship as a
“democratic regime of force.” He espoused wanting to make Brazil evangelical
and insisted on the Bible being taught at school. Velez wanted to mandate
compulsory singing of the national anthem across all schools and chant
Bolsonaro’s campaign slogan.
Even
before the Bolsonaro government, there was this worry that the Brazilian
education system needs a massive upheaval. In a pan-portuguese nation, the
English-speaking diaspora is relatively low compared to other non-English
speaking countries. Brazil has a problem of a large portion of the students who
learn the language but can’t converse in it easily. The ones who do have been
offered the privilege of private education, another mark against the public
education system. There is a fear that majority of the population may have
inadvertently isolated themselves as a result of being not being able to
converse in English and the Portuguese speaking countries outside Brazil, are
just a handful (Portugal, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Angola). There is a huge
population in the age gap of 15-35 years of the youth that are either out of
the education force or out of the workforce.
Bolsonaro
enjoyed the support of certain parliamentary members dubbed as the BBB caucus,
which stands for bullets, bible and beef. In other words, a 326-member
congressional caucus alliance known for its impassioned support of guns,
agribusiness and all things towards Christianity. Brazil is going through a
political and economic crisis. The country has come a long way since the ouster
of military rule in 1985 and since then the country has adopted a new
constitution.
Globally,
Brazil remains one of the most open in terms of international investment. It’s
the eight largest economy globally, the largest in the Latin American region
and second largest in the Americas, with natural resources in gold, uranium,
iron and timber worth 22 trillion dollars. It is the world’s largest coffee
producer. Under former president Lula Da Silva, Brazil enjoyed a healthy growth
rate, so much so that it made the exclusive Goldman Sachs club of BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, South Africa), an acronym for the fast-growing emerging
market countries.
The
former President Lula, widely popular had a high approval rating of 85 percent,
but according to some economists, he rode on reforms previously introduced and
on the country’s commodity rich resources. There was little done to reform the
pensions and tax structure. His plans to run again in 2018 came crashing down
with his arrest on corruption charges, courtesy Operation Car Wash. This
evinces one academic statement that the corruption in Brazil is not petty, but
highly networked.
His
successor, Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s first female President, was not implicated
in the same scandal but she didn’t survive impeachment. Brazil, like its
neighbour Argentina, underwent an economic crisis with rising unemployment and
dwindling economic growth. Rousseff’s approval ratings dropped into the single
digits. The economist President was accused of fiscal irresponsibility and
mismanagement of budgetary resources.
The FIESP,
a trade association in Sao Paulo notes that while populism is not just
restricted to the political right, it is almost unusual for Brazil to have
right wing governments. The ennui with political corruption enabled a Bolsonaro
government to take shape. The ‘Trump of the tropics’ as Bolsonaro is known has
praised President Trump and wants to take a cue out of the President’s book by
doling out key posts to family members. He is considering nominating his son as
Brazil’s ambassador to the United States. The fear is unlike the United States,
Brazil does not have the robust institutions, or a strong system of checks and
balances needed to keep a far-right government from spreading its negative
spheres of influence.
Brazil
has been a country that has been the envy of the footballing world with five
world cup titles. They coined the phrase Joga Bonito (beautiful game)
emphasising to ‘play beautiful football’. But for all the beauty in the form of
countless stars in Pele, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and the exotic Samba flair, it’s
the politics of Brazil that could be heading for an ugly turn.
**More:
https://www.eurasiareview.com/28072019-brazil-brics-and-bolsonaro-a-once-fast-growing-bric-nation-is-now-weakest-bric-in-wall-analysis/
**By Observer Research Foundation