Explaining Brazil #196: Will Biden keep a close eye on Brazil’s elections?

A group of researchers from the U.S.-based Washington Brazil Office believe the threat of democratic rupture in Brazil is very real. This week, they sent a 25-page report to the Joe Biden administration warning them of the risks of a coup in Brazil, citing four main points that international observers should pay attention to in the country during the leadup to the October elections:

• President Jair Bolsonaro’s constant attacks on democratic institutions and his attempt to discredit the voting system;
• The corrosion of environmental legislation and its impacts on the global climate;
• The rise of poverty and hunger in Brazil,
• And the weakening of social movements.

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Guest:

• David Nemer is a researcher at the department of media studies of the University of Virginia, and a faculty associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center and Princeton University’s Brazil Lab. He’s also a member of the Washington Brazil Lab. He wrote “Technology of the Oppressed: Inequity and the Digital Mundane in Favelas of Brazil.”

Background reading:

• Brasília correspondent Amanda Audi spoke with Paulo Abrão, director of the Washington Brazil Office, and she wrote about it in the latest edition of the Brazil Weekly newsletter.
• Many fear Brazil could have its own version of the U.S. Capitol riots. Given the local scenario, a similar movement could be even bloodier, said commentator Alex Hochuli in episode #166.
• The Supreme Court believes that a high-profile pro-Bolsonaro blogger was plotting an attack similar to the January 6 riots in Brazil before he fled the country to avoid arrest.
• Brazilian courts ordered a Telegram ban in March, and later revoked it. In response, pro-Bolsonaro networks are working to sidestep further judicial action. One of them is Gettr, a right-wing alternative to Twitter that has acted as a propaganda machine in favor of Jair Bolsonaro.

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