A “disaster”. This is in a nutshell how we could sum up Jair Bolsonaro’s four years in power, according to Brazil specialists interviewed by franceinfo. Despite criticism, the far-right president, elected in 2018, continues to hound Lula in the polls for the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, which takes place on Sunday, October 30.
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In power, Jair Bolsonaro has largely distinguished himself by his escapades and his invectives against his opponents, his attacks on the environment, his populism and his isolation on the international scene. With what consequences? Franceinfo returns to this mandate which has upset Brazil.
A sluggish economy
Elected on an ultra-liberal economic program, Jair Bolsonaro has worked to reduce the role of the state in the economy. “His action has been characterized by a mixture of neoliberalism, privatization and reduction of state spending, particularly concerning healthexplains to franceinfo Christophe Ventura, sLatin America specialist and research director at theInstitute of International and Strategic Relations (Iris).
In 2019, the President thus led to a reform of the pension system which expects savings of some 800 billion reais (about 176 billion euros) over ten years. In addition to the drastic reduction of many public bodies, the far-right president has carried out numerous privatizations, such as that of the electricity giant Eletrobras.
“All of this had a significant impact on the economy, when the country was affected by the health crisis”, emphasizes Christophe Ventura. The arrival of Covid-19, and Jair Bolsonaro’s initial refusal to set up ambitious aid programs, plunged many of the country’s inhabitants into poverty. The federal government ended up releasing emergency support of 600 reais (120 euros) per month in the spring of 2020, before halving it and then eliminating it.
“If the Brazilian economy was not doing well before his election, Jair Bolsonaro accelerated this phenomenon. Today 1% of the country’s population owns more than half of the wealth.”
Christophe Ventura, Latin America specialistat franceinfo
As the end of his term nears, President Bolsonaro has introduced new measures to deal with soaring fuel prices and double-digit inflation. “He approved corporate aid for truck and taxi drivers, reduced taxes on fossil fuels,” details to franceinfo Graziella Guiotti, professor of political science at the School of Public Policy of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, based in Brasilia. A decision that the specialist describes as “disastrous”this tax on fuels financing in particular the budgets of the States for education.
By multiplying these gestures, Jair Bolsonoro bet that the election would be played on the economy. But if “Positive results are felt in the short term, the measures are not funded, and in the medium term the impact will be very hard”adds the specialist.
Moreover, Jair Bolsonaro, supported by economic circles in 2018, ended up being let go by some of the big Brazilian bosses. They reproach him in particular for his foreign policy, who has “isolated Brazil from the rest of the world and put the country in confrontation with its main partners, such as China, the United States, Argentina and France”, notes Graziella Guiotti. Focused on defense “Christian values” and “anti-globalist”, “this non-foreign policy has led Brazil into the wall”adds Christopher Ventura.
More than 687,000 dead from Covid-19
Beyond the economic question, Jair Bolsonaro’s mandate is inexorably linked to his management of the Covid-19 pandemic. “It’s simple, he did nothing and left people on the floor”, summarizes Christophe Ventura. Known for his conspiratorial remarks and his untruths about the disease, the president refused to put in place confinements and to make masks compulsory, going so far as to prosecute certain States applying such measures.
More than 687,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Brazil according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO)* on October 26. It accounts for nearly 35 million cases in the country. The pandemic has pushed thousands of people into poverty. Some 33.1 million people suffer from hunger in Brazil, according to a study published in June by the Brazilian Food Security Research Network. This is a 73% increase since 2020, AFP recalled in September.
A 1,200-page report by the Brazilian Senate also accused the president in 2021 of “crime against humanity” for its management of the crisis. Also, Jair Bolsonaro “invested huge amounts in treatments that had no effect and only decided to buy vaccines after being pressured by governors”emphasizes Graziella Guiotti.
Particularly skeptical of vaccines, which he even accused of transmitting AIDS, he did not set up “no federal campaign encouraging vaccination”adds the researcher. However, almost 87% of the population has received at least one dose, according to the WHO.
The damaged environment
Scientists feared the worst for the environment when Jair Bolsonaro was elected. The mandate of the far-right president has been “catastrophic” in the matter, slice Christophe Ventura, an observation shared by the organization Greenpeace*.
As soon as he came to power, the Head of State considerably reduced the budget of the various institutions responsible for defending the environment. A Reuters* survey in August 2019 noted a 25% drop for the main public body dedicated to these issues (Ibama). An ardent defender of agribusiness, Jair Bolsonaro has set up a “ecocidal government” thus judged Marcel Bursztyn, professor at the center of sustainable development of the University of Brasilia, questioned in September by Le Monde (article for subscribers).
Deforestation of the country’s primary forests, particularly the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest, accelerated from the start of the term, reaching its highest level since 2008, reported in September. Nature*. The situation is such that the “green lung of the planet” now releases more CO2 than it captures and that fires, often of human origin, are increasing.
Actions against indigenous populations have multiplied, while “it did not punish illegal mining operations on indigenous lands”, completes Graziella Guiotti. A decision that is not surprising, according to the researcher: “One in five Bolsonaro campaign contributors must pay fines for environmental damage.”
“It’s violence in power”
“Four years of Bolsonaro is violence in power. It’s the violence of words, gestures. A violence that has plagued the whole of society”summarized in September at franceinfo the journalist Stéphanie Lebrun, who produced a documentary on the Brazilian president. Political violence has increased considerably in four years, reports the State University of Rio in a quarterly bulletin (content in Portuguese).
Brazil, meanwhile, remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for activists. According to a report* by the NGO Global Witness, at least 20 environmental activists were killed in 2020 in the country. The situation matches Jair Bolsonaro’s worldview, according to Christopher Ventura.
“He is the embodiment of a nihilism, of a politics that carries no hope, where everyone has to fight with their knife and gun for their private property.”
Christophe Ventura, research director at Irisat franceinfo
In addition to populist discourse, there have been numerous attacks on Brazilian democracy. “It has reduced the transparency of public organizations and the governmenthighlighted Graziella Guiotti. In addition to regular clashes with the judiciary and governors, he also questioned the electoral system when the polls were bad and threatened to disregard election results.“Despite four years of “dysfunction of the institutions, they held”tempers Christophe Ventura, while emphasizing the confrontation between “the executive power and the judicial power, which have become the first counter-power.”
This piling up of crises, “already present but accentuated by Bolsonaro”specifies the researcher, explains “the crumbling of the Brazilian state” and society. After four years of “bolsonarism”, the country is “extremely polarized, particularly at the religious level”emphasizes Graziella Guiotti. “There are two countries that no longer speak to each other in Brazil, families are divided and argue over politics”, adds Christophe Ventura. The effects of the far-right president’s policies, even if Lula wins, will continue to be felt, according to the specialist. For him, “As in the case of Donald Trump, the causes that produce this phenomenon are still there”.
*Links followed by an asterisk refer to articles in English.