The guru of the Brazilian right-wing: who is Olavo de Carvalho

“Starting on [October] 29, without rest, we’ll start working to take down [media group] Globo, [newspaper] Folha [de S.Paulo] and all public enemies! Got it?,” wrote Olavo de Carvalho, a self-proclaimed philosopher who has become the mentor for a new right-wing generation in Brazil. He hates the label of “alt-right guru” he has been given, referring to himself as a “mere observer of reality.” But the truth is that thousands of Brazilian right-wingers look up to him as their political guide.

Based in the U.S. since 2005, Mr. Carvalho shares his adopted country’s passion for guns and carries himself as a sort of “Marlboro Man,” frequently posing with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and wearing a cowboy hat.

Olavo de Carvalho is a divisive character. He’s either seen as a “master”, a teacher, “the only guy who calls it as it is,” according to one of his Facebook followers – a “true intellectual who rejects the status quo and the obviousness of Brazil’s academics,” as said another.

Others paint him with less flattering colors. He is, for some, the caricature of a conservative who fuels conspiracy theories (such as the international plan of the left to implant a Gramscian revolution). The people who follow his online philosophy courses are seen as brainless radicals who mimic him without much self-reflection. Olavo de Carvalho is also seen as an enemy of all, as he treats the left and part of the right as antagonists.

During the demonstrations which popped up all across the country in 2013, many right-wing protesters took to the streets...