By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY. Mon. Oct. 29, 2018: Brazil has a new right-wing President who many are now calling the “Donald Trump” of Brazil after he won Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018. Here are five things you should know about the new leader of the largest nation in South America:
1: He is Jair Bolsonaro who won 56 percent of the votes in the run-off election on Oct. 28, 2018 against left-wing hopeful Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party (PT), who had 44 percent, according to the electoral authority TSE, despite being shot on the campaign trail.
2: Bolsanoro, 63, is a right-wing candidate who is dubbed “The Donald Trump of Brazil,” for his strong support of national conservatism and is a vocal opponent of left-wing policies, including same-sex marriage, abortion, affirmative action, drug liberalization and secularism. Like Trump, he has made statements that some people considered insulting, homophobic, violence-inciting, misogynistic, sexist, racist or anti-refugee. He is a member of the Social Liberal Party (PSL).
3: Bolsanoro is an admirer of Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship and a defender of its use of torture on leftist opponents. Some fear that like Trump, he will trample on human rights, curtail civil liberties and muzzle freedom of speech. In a 2017 interview with journalist Claudio Dantas Sequeira from O Antagonista, Bolsonaro said that his views are directly aligned with centrist to right-wing United States citizens’ views on gun ownership, abortion, gender politics and trade, despite the “left-leaning media frenzy” against him.
4: Bolsanoro is a former Army captain who has vowed to crack down on crime in Brazil’s cities and farm belt by granting police more autonomy to shoot at criminals. He also wants to let more Brazilians buy weapons to fight crime. Bolsonaro has publicly referred to the military dictatorship as a “glorious” period in Brazil’s history, and that the under the military dictatorship, Brazil enjoyed “20 years of order and progress.”
5: He has served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, representing the state of Rio de Janeiro, since 1991. Bolsanaro will take office as the 38th president on January 1, 2019. He wants closer relations with the United States and Israel. Like Trump, Bolsonaro is married to his third wife.
