Far-right president Bolsonaro puts Trump-esque stamp on Brazil in first week
- The new president has come out swinging, introducing changes to remake the country around his Trump-esque nationalist agenda
- But confusion over some announcements gives the impression of a gap between his ambitions and the approach of his ministers
Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, came out swinging in his very first week in office, introducing changes to remake his country around his far-right agenda – but proving less ambitious than expected on economic reforms.
Many measures announced since his investiture Tuesday reflected the 63-year-old former paratrooper’s desire to break with decades of centre-left politics and embrace a nationalist vision of the sort espoused by his ideological ally, United States President Donald Trump.
Bolsonaro declared Brazil and the US to be “friends” and said in his first post-inauguration television interview he was open to looking at his country hosting a US military base, citing regional instability from neighbouring Venezuela and its backer Russia.
He also issued decrees reducing the protection of indigenous land rights and the LGBTI community, and ordered that non-governmental organisations come under government monitoring.
His government announced it has launched a purge of government contractors deemed not to fully support Bolsonaro’s ultraconservatism.
And his pro-free-market economy minister, Paulo Guedes, said the government’s No 1 priority was to tackle Brazil’s costly and unsustainable pension system.
Investors applauded the first bold steps, sending the stock market to a record high and strengthening the Brazilian real against the dollar.
