Bolsonaro's honeymoon cancelled

A divided cabinet, youth protests and corruption scandals: Brazil's right-wing government comes under pressure
By Claudia Zilla | 12.06.2019



Reuters
Students' protest against planned cuts to federal spending on higher education in Rio de Janeiro

Violent rhetoric alone is not enough to keep political momentum going – that’s what Brazil’s president Jair Bolsanaro is now finding out. Since moving into the Palácio do Planalto early this year, the right-wing populist’s understanding of democracy hasn’t changed: he still despises consensus and has a deep distaste for diversity. As far as he is concerned, the majority rules the day and minorities can either get with the mainstream or get lost. Special protections for the few? In Bolsonaro’s world, it’s the many who decide.

And yet, since the return of democracy to Latin America’s biggest nation, no Brazilian head of state to date has been so unpopular only five months into their first term. His approval ratings just keep sinking while, on the street, his opponents are far more numerous. As protest movements mobilise demonstrators, the different factions in the cabinet are quarrelling and, in Congress, the executive has not been able to pass one single major piece of legislation.

In a survey carried out by Datafolha in April, around two thirds of respondents said that they had expected a better performance from Bolsonaro once elected. Only just over half of those who voted for him are satisfied with his government. As ever, the former officer is more popular among white men who tend to be better qualified, to earn more, and to be more protestant than the average.

Bolsonaro’s education offensive
Bolsonaro also seems to be losing the fight on the streets as tens of thousands of primarily young protesters speak out against his government’s education policy. In mid-May, enormous demonstrations in the country’s largest cities brought students, teachers, and university administrators together to protest the government’s plan to cut grants to federal universities by 30 per cent and to remove funding for around 3,000 research stipends. According to Minister for Education Abraham Weintraub, this savings initiative targets first and foremost ‘those institutions which produce anarchy rather than academic performance.’

Bolsonaro himself, meanwhile, produced no small degree of indignation in academic circles when he argued that the youth of today should concentrate more on their studies than on politics. He added that humanities such as sociology and philosophy were, from a tax-payer value point of view, unproductive courses of study. While the demonstrations against Bolsonaro have been countered by pro-government gatherings, the latter have remained considerably smaller.

More:
https://www.ips-journal.eu/regions/latin-america/article/show/bolsonaros-honeymoon-cancelled-3526/