‘Tropical Trump’ favourite as Brazilians head to polls
Front-runner Jair Bolsonaro – who openly praises the country’s period of military rule – is riding a wave of anti-establishment anger after the uncovering of widespread political corruption and growing fears about crime
Brazilians went to the polls on Sunday in a polarised presidential race that could result in the election of a far-right former army captain, whose praise of past dictatorships enrages critics but whose promise of a brutal crackdown on crime and corruption has electrified his supporters.
Front-runner Jair Bolsonaro, who some call a tropical Trump, has surged in opinion polls in the past week.
He is riding a wave of anger at the establishment after the uncovering of one of the world’s largest political graft schemes, opposition to a return to power by the leftist Workers Party (PT) blamed for much of that corruption, and fears about spiking crime in the country with more murders than any other.
But Brazil is split over what cost to its democracy it may pay if it chooses Bolsonaro, a long-time congressman who has repeatedly praised the 1964-85 military regime but now vows to stick strongly to democratic ideals, a conversion many question.
Bolsonaro’s closest rival is PT candidate Fernando Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo and one-time education minister. He is standing in for the party’s imprisoned founder, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.