The incompetent firefighter

Demonstration against Amazon deforestation in Rio de Janeiro.

When dealing with a textbook “worst-case scenario” over the last ten days, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro did almost everything wrong.

Let’s set the scene. While some issues are divisive and constitute razor-thin majorities that politicians in the minority can manipulate and mobilize in order to profit electorally, protecting the Amazon rainforest is not one of these issues.

Ninety-eight percent of Brazilians agree that preserving the Amazon is important and that the federal government should do more about it than it currently does. Therefore, when the dry season comes and the forest burns, politicians only have one choice: they must send a clear message that they are committed to environmental preservation and that they are working hard to stop the fires.

To make the issue even more challenging, the circumstances demanded a forceful and effective action from a government that is turning its lights off at 6 pm to lower the electricity bills of public buildings. Finding a way to respond to the...

Fernando Bizzarro

Ph.D. Student in Political Science at Harvard's Department of Government. His research is focused on the nature, the causes, and the consequences of political institutions, particularly on political parties, regimes, and their impacts on human and economic development.