Are Brazilians Ready for Bolsonaro?

On the podcast: The era of the strongman returns to Brazil.

By , the executive editor for podcasts at Foreign Policy.
Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images
Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images
Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images

Brazil begins a new era on Jan. 1 with the inauguration of Jair Bolsonaro as president. A far-right politician with a stated fondness for the country’s old military dictatorship, Bolsonaro won the presidency in October on a promise to get tough on violent crime and stamp out Brazil's rampant corruption.

Brazil begins a new era on Jan. 1 with the inauguration of Jair Bolsonaro as president. A far-right politician with a stated fondness for the country’s old military dictatorship, Bolsonaro won the presidency in October on a promise to get tough on violent crime and stamp out Brazil’s rampant corruption.

Bolsonaro, who is a member of the Social Liberal Party, has a history of inflammatory comments against women and LGBT people. He once told a colleague he wouldn’t sexually assault her because she was “not worthy” of it.

On the podcast, we’re reairing an interview we conducted the week of Bolsonaro’s election with journalist Brian Winter, one of the few Americans who has met the Brazilian leader face to face. Winter followed Bolsonaro’s rise for years while serving as a foreign correspondent in South America. He is now the editor in chief of Americas Quarterly.

 

 

 

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