A year of Jair Bolsonaro
Brazil’s president can boast some achievements. They come at a high price
WHEN JAIR BOLSONARO took office as Brazil’s president on January 1st 2019, many observers feared the worst. The former army captain had made his name by extolling the military dictators who ruled from 1964 to 1985 and by disparaging women and gays. He won the election because voters were traumatised by the country’s worst-ever recession, from 2014 to 2016, by crime and by revelations of corruption at the highest levels of politics and business. They hoped that Mr Bolsonaro would restore prosperity, peace and probity to Brazil.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “A year of governing dangerously”
From the January 4th 2020 edition
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