As elections approach, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s current president and candidate for re-election, is multiplying attacks to undermine the country’s political stability and democratic institutions. Like the president himself, these attacks are part of the long tradition of the Brazilian right-wing extremists, but also of the new dynamic of the global right-wing extremists.
For decades, Bolsonaro has attacked democratic institutions and praised the civil-military dictatorship (1964-1985) and its torturers. Since the start of the current election campaign, he has stepped up his efforts to criticize and discredit Brazil’s internationally recognized electoral system. We find here the same work to undermine the credibility of the electoral system as in recent events in other parts of the world, such as in the United States during the attack on Capitol Hill by extremist groups.
Read the interview: Article reserved for our subscribers “Jair Bolsonaro is the product of the long history of the Brazilian extreme right”
In Brazil, the links between the extreme right and anti-democracy movements are not new. Bolsonaro is reviving an ancient system of beliefs and political values that defends an extremely authoritarian and hierarchical vision of society. A system that uses conspiracy theories to prosecute and punish political opponents (which the President “loathes,” to use his own term). Here we recall the fundamental role of slavery and racism in the formation of Brazilian national identity.
The “homage” to Goebbels
Historically, the fascist movement is the Açao Integralista Brasileira (AIB), the “Brazilian Integralist Action”) [1932-1937] and his “green shirts” constituted the first mass political expression of the Brazilian extreme right. The AIB was also the largest and best structured fascist organization outside of continent Europe. Bolsonaro’s political and cultural melting pot embodies fascist ideology – for example in anti-communist discourses. But the campaign of Bolsonaro and his most loyal supporters also refers daily to the motto “God, Country, Family” so dear to Brazilian integralism.
Other references to fascism and authoritarian regimes in the first half of the 20th century include mentions of Francoist Spain, use of Fascist Italy slogans, and even praise of Nazi Germany, such as the “Homage” by Roberto Alvim, then Secretary of State for culture, to Joseph Goebbels.
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