Markets rally for ‘Tropical Trump’ Jair Bolsonaro
Brazil entered a new era yesterday after electing Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who has vowed fundamental change.
Brazil entered a new era yesterday after electing its next president, Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who has vowed a fundamental change in direction for the giant Latin American country.
Mr Bolsonaro, who openly admires Brazil’s former military dictatorship and shocked many with his derogatory remarks on women, gays and blacks, won 55 per cent of the vote in a run-off election yesterday, more than 10 points ahead of leftist opponent Fernando Haddad.
Having channelled voters’ anger with corruption, crime and economic malaise, the “Tropical Trump” will now seek to “change Brazil’s destiny”.
Markets reacted positively to the win by the business-world favourite, who will take office on January 1, although profit-taking set in later in the day. The Sao Paulo stock exchange main index opened up more than 3 per cent, after adding 10 per cent in a month as Mr Bolsonaro surged in the polls, before falling 2.24 per cent into the red at the close.
The Brazilian real hit its strongest point in six months against the US dollar, then retreated slightly.
After a polarising election, many Brazilians seemed eager to turn the page, hoping for the best as the country takes what even Mr Bolsonaro supporters acknowledge is a leap into the unknown.
“Maybe now, with this renewal, things will improve in this country,’’ said Bolsonaro voter Jocemil Clacino, 66.
For Mr Bolsonaro’s opponents, however, the bitterness runs deep.
“These elections revealed the worst in humanity,” Adriana Calvi, 55, said.
“People let out everything they had been too afraid to talk about. It made me feel terrible. But we’ll have to carry on.”
Mr Bolsonaro, 63, has outraged many with his overtly misogynistic, homophobic and racist rhetoric. But he vowed in his first interview as president-elect to govern for all Brazilians.
Asked if he would respect the rights of minorities, he asked: “What’s a minority?”
“We’re all the same. I’m no different from you. I don’t care what colour your skin is, your sexual orientation, where you’re from, your gender. We’re the same. If we achieve that equality for all, everyone will be satisfied.”
Mr Bolsonaro appeared relaxed at his home in Rio de Janeiro, where he has mostly remained since leaving hospital after being stabbed in the stomach at a rally on September 6.
He said he had spent much of the day on the phone, receiving congratulations from world leaders, although some also urged him to “respect democratic principles”, as French President Emmanuel Macron put it.
Opponents have warned that Mr Bolsonaro could try to veer towards authoritarianism, after the former army captain heaped praise on Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship (1964-1985) and its torture of leftist dissidents.
The EU will be expecting Mr Bolsonaro to “work to consolidate democracy”, EU spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said.
US President Donald Trump and Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini were more effusive. Mr Trump tweeted that he had had an “excellent” phone call with Mr Bolsonaro, and Mr Salvini celebrated that “in Brazil, too, the people have chased out the Left”.
Mr Bolsonaro also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warmly invited him to Israel, the PM’s office said.
In a sign of how far the “pink tide” of left-wing governments that recently dominated Latin America has ebbed, even Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and Ecuador’s Evo Morales sent their congratulations.
The election result comes on the heels of Brazil’s worst recession, a staggering multibillion-dollar corruption scandal and a year of record violent crime.
Although many voters expressed strong dislike for Mr Bolsonaro, even more rejected Mr Haddad and his Workers’ Party, which had won the past four elections. Mr Bolsonaro’s top economic adviser, liberal economist Paulo Guedes, promised sweeping changes for the economy.
“We are going to change the social-democratic economic model. It’s terrible,” Mr Guedes said. “We need pension reform … and we are going to accelerate privatisations.”
AFP
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