Will 2019 be Brazil's year of changes with Bolsonaro at helm?

Will Bolsonaro strife freedom of Brazilian population through his policies?

Bolsonaro supporter [File] A supporter of Jair Bolsonaro with a balloon bearing his image at the National Congress in Brasilia | AP

With the start of the new year, Brazil is about to witness a slew of changes in both the government and civic society. The newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro, who assumed office on January 1, is a far-right conservative from the Partido Liberal Social. He has been vocal in the past on his views against hotly debated issues of the modern era such as abortion, same-sex marriage, secularism and drug liberalisation.

The commencement of Bolsonaro’s presidency will serve as the next step in the wave of populism that has been sweeping many parts of the world. Since the declaration of the election results in October, there has been constant protests and public outcries, particularly from women and from the LGBTQ community in Brazil due to fears that Bolsonaro would push the country back to the years of military rule by repealing new laws that allowed more freedom.

The fears stem from his 2018 presidential campaign, during which he had expressed his nostalgic feelings towards the military dictatorship of 1964-85 and praised autocrats such as Augusto Pinochet of Chile. He had also promised to liberalise gun laws and tighten drug laws, execute repressive tactics against the ever-rising criminality, and laws that may effectively promote femicide.

Here's a look at what all could change under the new Brazilian government:

Gun rights

One of the flagship points in Bolsonaro’s manifesto was to relax laws restricting the ownership and possession of firearms by civilians and grant police forces more freedom to shoot suspects on sight. Brazil witnessed around 175 homicides per day in 2017. Bolsonaro’s tough stance on crime, sounds awfully similar to the Trump administration and NRA’s views on the same issue. According to him, regulations on the ownership of guns has done nothing to curb crime rates in the country. These promises by the president-elect has experts and critics worried about the issue on police brutality, which was at a 20 per cent rise in 2017. But despite the apparent enthusiasm for Bolsonaro’s promises, pre-election polls suggested that 55 per cent of Brazilians think civilian gun ownership must be banned.

Gay rights

Various LGBTQ-related magazines have called Bolsonaro “Brazil’s biggest homophobe”. In a July 2011 interview, he stated that he would fight to prevent the distribution of the 'gay kit'—a set of guidelines proposed by the UNESCO to promote the rights of the LGBT community in primary schools. “Their intention is to promote homosexuality, which is an affront to the family structure, and if that makes me prejudiced, then I'm prejudiced and very proud of it,” he had said. He continued to oppose gay kits in primary schools even though he has adopted a more moderate approach after he started running for president.

Foreign policy

Widely believed to be the most pro-American candidate since the 80s, Bolsonaro has, on multiple occasions, praised US President Donald Trump and his foreign policies, especially those towards Iran and China. It has been opined by many that Bolsonaro’s distrust towards China is an attempt to gain favour from Trump and gain concessions to US sanctions. He is an admirer of Winston Churchill, having learned from him "patriotism, love for your fatherland, respect for your flag”. He has vowed to improve relations with Israel, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. He claims China wants to ‘buy’ Brazil. The former army general also does not recognise Palestine as a state and has said, “You don’t negotiate with terrorists”.

Environmental policies

Bolsonaro is a staunch supporter of agri-business and much like Donald Trump, does not seem to believe threats of global warming. He has brushed away foreign requests and pressure to help preserve the Amazon rainforest in favour of setting up revenue generating businesses. He plans to merge the agriculture and environment ministries into one. The 38th President served notice to the World Wildlife Fund and other international NGOs that he will not tolerate any of their agendas in Brazil. He stands strongly against reservation of land for indigenous tribes and has expressed a great amount of hostility towards them through his speeches. The Amazon basin is an important regulator of global temperature as it absorbs large amounts of carbon. An acceleration in the rate of deforestation in the area would produce gravely undesirable circumstances. 

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