In 2018, shortly before the presidential election that saw Jair Bolsonaro become Brazil’s new head of state, pollster Datafolha asked the population what it thought was the biggest problem facing the country at that moment.
Twenty-three percent of respondents said health, consistently the top answer every time Datafolha has asked the public this question.
Fourteen percent said corruption was Brazil’s biggest problem. And sure enough, with his anti-corruption ticket, Mr. Bolsonaro would go on to win the election.
Flash forward to 2022, after four years of the Bolsonaro government, and Datafolha ran the same poll. Top of the list, once again, was health. Then the economy, unemployment, inflation, education, hunger — but just 5 percent said corruption.
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In this episode:
- Mário Braga is a senior political risk analyst at Control Risks in Brazil. He was an Erasmus Mundus Journalism scholar pursuing his Master’s degree at Aarhus University (Denmark) and at London’s City University.
Background reading on corruption in Brazil:
- Latin Americans don’t believe their countries are improving in the fight against corruption. Transparency International cites “a lack of bold, decisive action to fight corruption and strengthen public institutions.”
- Brazil’s Federal Police was investigating a scheme that embezzled public money. Some of the suspects have close ties to House Speaker Arthur Lira. The Supreme Court, however, has since suspended that probe.
- The rise and fall of Fernando Collor: from hunting Maharajas to a prison sentence. Brazil’s Supreme Court convicted former President Fernando Collor on corruption charges, bringing an end to his scandal-filled career in the Brazilian public eye.
- Links between outgoing Tourism Minister Daniela Carneiro and urban mafias have raised questions in the press — and prompted an investigation request by a former Car Wash prosecutor
Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at [email protected]
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