Explaining Brazil #129: Bolsonaro steering away from Bolsonarism

President Jair Bolsonaro has pretty much broken with everything he stood for in the 2018 election. He has not catered to Evangelicals in Congress; he has declared the end of Operation Car Wash; and his family is battling multiple corruption accusations. But Mr. Bolsonaro has never been stronger among politicians in Brasília — nor has he been more popular with voters.

Still, it is possible to see cracks in the Bolsonarism bloc, with some far-right activists calling for protests against the president — who they call a “closeted left-winger,” something the president — and anyone on the left — would strongly deny.

This week, we discuss the political repercussions of the president’s political shift.

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On this episode:

• Pablo Ortellado is a philosopher, researcher, and public policy professor at the University of São Paulo. His research interests include copyright policies, access to information, cultural policies, and social movements.

Background reading:

• Brasília correspondent Débora Álvares explains how and why President Jair Bolsonaro is trying to go mainstream.
• The left saw Jair Bolsonaro as a stop gap — and the right believed it would easily tame him. Instead, the president outfoxed those who could dethrone him as the conservative leader in Brazil. No other example is clearer than Sergio Moro, the former Justice Minister who may now leave Brazil.
• The Bolsonaro administration tries to gain more control over Brasília. Meanwhile, the First Family tries to plant its flag in Rio de Janeiro.
• The election that could determine Jair Bolsonaro’s future.
• Pablo Ortellado wrote an op-ed for newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, entitled “The normalization of Bolsonaro.”

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