One year before the election, Brazilians are focused on real-life issues

Voters cheer President Bolsonaro in southern Brazil. Photo: Isac Nóbrega/PR

In an attempt to stop hemorrhaging support, Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro reportedly plans to galvanize conservative voters by embarking on an agenda related to social customs and behavior. A mainstay during his 2018 election campaign, Mr. Bolsonaro promised moves to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16, lift gun controls, and oppose any form of medicinal cannabis use in the country. For a certain slice of the electorate, these proposals resonated.

But in 2021 Brazil, voters have more practical things on their minds.

A poll conducted by AP Exata and commissioned by weekly magazine Veja shows that day-to-day problems take precedence for the Brazilian population, with households battling high unemployment, spiraling inflation, and the rise of extreme poverty.

Regardless, the president’s latest platform consists of packing high courts with conservative judges. Elsewhere, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on previously hot-button social issues such as the decriminalization of cannabis and abortion rights.

Janaína Camelo

Janaína Camelo has been a political reporter for ten years, working for multiple media outlets. More recently, she worked for the presidency's press service and is now specializing in data journalism.