Brazil’s Bolsonaro signals cooperation with transfer of power, but does not concede election defeat
By David Walsh
14 November 2018
On Thursday night, the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, will be officially declared the new president of the Brazilian Republic, succeeding the outgoing president, Michel Temer.
In short, the victory by Bolsonaro—which has been secured by a major victory in the October 24 election—will mean there is nothing for the opposition left, who have been demanding that Temer, a right-wing populist, be ousted from office in a vote of no confidence. The new president is guaranteed a majority in the lower house of Congress, which would prevent the Congress from launching a vote of impeachment against him.
Bolsonaro has now consolidated his right-wing political coalition. The right, of course, controls the supreme court—a key source of political influence—while it has also consolidated the Brazilian military into the Bolsonaro military-industrial complex, run by leading military figures.
The Brazilian right, which has benefited greatly from the crisis economy that has led to mass protests over living standards, is now consolidating its power and that of the military behind the president.
The Brazilian right has been able to take advantage of economic hardship to consolidate its political control in Brazil, which has turned into a major “land of oligarchs.”
And the same conditions that have generated economic hardship in the country are producing the same reaction everywhere.
On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed an anti-Bolsonaro resolution that called for impeachment proceedings against the president.
What is Bolsonaro’s strategy?
The Bolsonaro victory, as we have written extensively, signals a radical turn of the Brazilian right. He was the clear favorite in the October vote, having won the most votes even among those who did not vote for him.
This is because Bolsonaro campaigned on a tough and radical policy platform that has united reactionary sectors with sections of the working class.
