Jair Bolsonaro (1955-) is the recently elected President of Brazil, starting his period in office in January 2019

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Jair Bolsonaro (1955-) is the recently elected President of Brazil, starting his period in office in January 2019. He was successful in winning despite being branded a right-wing populist with controversial views of LGBT+ rights, torture, gun ownership, and foreign policy. He has been called the 'Trump of the Tropics' as his policies, values, and manner are said to mirror those of President Trump of the USA.

He was born into relative poverty, growing up in a small town in the state of São Paulo where he and his friends would sell fish they had caught to help fund their education. He grew up during the rule of the military dictatorship in power from 1964 and entered the Brazilian army in 1988 after they had left power in 1985. However, he did not readily accept orders and left the army after being embroiled in a row over low pay.

He entered politics in 1988 as a councillor in Rio de Janerio and was elected to Congress in 1990. Since then he has moved through nine different political parties without holding significant office or bringing about any substantial changes, preferring the role of the classic backbencher. However, this lack of impact and connection with any particular party has been seized on by the electorate as a positive strength. To understand why, it is useful to go back to 2014 when an anti-corruption investigation called Operation Car Wash began.

Operation Car Wash was an investigation into bribery in the state-owned petrochemical company Petrobras. The investigation uncovered corruption on a massive scale with top executives accepting bribes from construction companies in return for favourable contracts. However, the investigation didn't stop there and the ruling Workers Party was found to have used some of this money to pay off politicians. The popular President Lula da Silva was implicated and in March 2018 was sentenced to twelve years in jail after accepting a beach front apartment. Since then more senior politicians, such as Michel Temer and Dilma Rousseff, have been impeached and Marcelo Odebrecht, the CEO of another huge Brazilian company—Oderbrecht—is serving a nineteen-year prison sentence for corruption, after being found guilty of paying more than $30 million (£21 million) in bribes to Petrobras officials in exchange for contracts and influence.

Against this background, which fuelled large public protests and a backlash against what was seen as the political elite, Bolsonaro's straightforward talking and simple message of zero tolerance of corrupt behaviour has struck a real chord with the Brazilian people. Brazil has experienced declining living standards, an upsurge in violent crime, and an economy struggling under a $33 billion deficit. However, Bolsonaro has been accused of riding a wave of populism and of peddling an extreme right-wing agenda. He said 'leftists will have to leave the country or go to jail', adding 'these red outlaws will be banished from the homeland'. He has declared refugees 'the scum of the earth' and supports the use of torture. He also remarked to a female political opponent that he 'wouldn't rape her as she wasn't worth it'. His polarizing effect is further illustrated by the assault on him during an election rally when he was stabbed in the stomach, leaving him in Intensive Care. His assailant, who claimed he was 'on a mission from God', was jailed.

Bolsonaro's supporters argue that his more controversial statements were made when he was less mature and worldly. They also point to the strong, experienced team he has put in place to advise him on policy. Bolsonaro has now begun to shape his foreign policy, with visits to the USA where he met President Trump, Israel where he visited the Western Wall, and China where he announced the removal of the need for Chinese visitors to have a visa.

 

Questions

 

1. How does an understanding of change mechanisms help understand how Bolsonaro came into power?

2. How does his behaviour contribute to his leadership credentials?

3. What implications are there for other leaders attempting to gain influence and power?