As radical rhetoric escalates in Brazil, so does political violence

A political argument in rural Brazil last week culminated in the murder of 42-year-old Benedito Cardoso dos Santos, a crime that shocked Brazilians. The killer, a supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro, stabbed Mr. Santos after the latter defended Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Mr. Bolsonaro’s main challenger in the upcoming elections. Then, he tried to decapitate Mr. Santos. While this is perhaps the most disturbing episode of far-right political violence in recent months, it is hardly the only one.

The electoral investigation group at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Unirio) tallied at least 214 episodes of political violence in the first half of 2022, including 40 murders.

A week before the murder of Mr. Santos in Mato Grosso, a police officer in the city of Goiânia shot a fellow churchgoer in the leg after a political argument. The victim, Davi Augusto de Souza, had argued against the church’s preachers putting pressure on their congregation not to vote for left-wing candidates — and urging them to vote for Mr. Bolsonaro instead.

On July 9, a pro-Bolsonaro penitentiary officer shot dead a treasurer for the local chapter of the Workers’ Party. The victim was throwing a Lula-themed birthday party in the southern city of Foz do Iguaçu. The killer is in jail and faces charges of aggravated homicide.

The Foz do Iguaçu case happened just three days after a fecal bomb was detonated during a Lula rally in Rio de Janeiro. While no one was hurt, the case renewed fears around the safety of the presidential frontrunner.

“What we are seeing is the byproduct of an intolerant atmosphere brewing for at least a decade,” says Luciana Panke, a political scientist at the Federal University of Paraná. “This hostile political climate is nothing new.” 

According to a recent study by the Political Action for Sustainability Network (RAPS) and the Brazilian Public Security Forum, 5.3 million citizens aged over 16 had received politically motivated threats between July and August. An astonishing 67.5 percent of respondents said they were afraid of being physically assaulted due to their political beliefs.

2013: politics become more toxic

Social media, flooded with disinformation about all candidates, has amplified the problem of political violence — especially against certain segments of society. A survey by the Marielle Franco Institute during the 2020 municipal elections found that eight out of every ten female candidates for public office suffered political violence on social media. 

Since last year, gender violence of a political nature has been a crime included in the electoral legislation — with penalties ranging from one to four years in prison and a fine.

Ms. Panke cites the massive and unprecedented wave of protests that swept Brazil in 2013 as a watershed...