The 2018 elections took their toll on many Brazilians. Political polarization and a sheer fear of a Jair Bolsonaro government have seen several citizens seek “escape routes” from their country of origin. Internet searches for terms related to migration have sharply increased, while official consulates and third-party consultants have seen a boom in the demand for their services.
Preferred destinations include the United States, Canada, Uruguay, and—of course— Portugal, whose consulate in São Paulo was forced to temporarily suspend all naturalization requests in mid-October due to a huge backlog.
The chart above maps the popularity of search engine terms related to migration from Brazil, specifically to the U.S., Uruguay, Canada, and Portugal, over the last three months. We can see that...
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