Porto Alegre, a large city in
southern Brazil, has served as a case study for why Brazil has experienced a
surge in support for far-right conservative policies. Recent years in Porto
Alegre have proven to be more unstable, as drug crime and homicide rates have
steadily increased, mirroring that of other large Brazilian cities such as Rio
de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Increasing crime rates in Brazil are a result of the
economic recession that has allowed gang activity to become more prevalent. In
response, there has been growing support for conservative policies that include
a relaxing of gun regulations and privatizing various state-run projects.
Serving as the poster-child for these policies is Jair Bolsonaro, a hard-right
congressman who previously had a military career in Brazil, and has expressed totalitarian
views. He has repeatedly expressed an affection for the military dictatorship that
ended in the 1980’s in Brazil, defends torture, and believes Afro-Brazilian’s, “aren’t
good enough even to procreate”. Support for Bolsonaro has been increasing
despite uproar concerning his extreme views, as safety concerns in Brazil’s
major cities has resulted in citizens showing displeasure towards a leftist
government that has not able to suppress crime. This anger and frustration
feeds into the conservative rhetoric that Bolsonaro proclaims, causing
middle-class voters to grow increasingly conservative, ignoring attacks on
their civil liberties as long as law and order can be restored in the nation. Brazil’s political situation is not isolated however, as other nations around the world
(e.g. Canada, the United States, Poland, Belgium) are shifting to the conservative side of the political spectrum.
Kevin Phelan
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