No, it's not Donald Trump of whom we speak, but Jair Bolsonaro, the 63-year-old congressman, who's also been called "Brazil's Donald Trump" or "Tropical Trump". Mr Bolsonaro has been criticized by the lamestream media and liberal pols at home and abroad for sexist comments about women [What's the Portuguese word for "pussy"? Ed.], refusing to recognize "gay rightsw", racist remarks about Brazil's black population, as well as his praise for the country's 1964-85 military dictatorship. But on Sunday he easily won the fun-off presidential election, riding a wave of frustration over corruption and crime that brought a dramatic swing to the right in the world's fourth-largest democracy.
In his acceptance sppech, Mr Bolsonaro said "We cannot continue flirting with communism.... We are going to change the destiny of Brazil!" His winning campaign was fuelled in large part by popular rejection of the leftist party (similar to America's "socialist Democrats") that ran Brazil for 13 of the last 15 years, and was booted out two years ago in the midst of a deep recession and a scandal over political graft. Mr Bolsonaro also vowed to crack down on crime in Brazil's cities and farm belt by granting police more autonomy to shoot at criminals. He also wants to let more Brazilians buy weapons to fight crime.
Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters cheered and set off fireworks outside his home in Rio de Janeiro's Barra de Tijuca beachfront neighbourhood as his victory was announced. In Brazil's commercial capital of Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro's win was greeted with fireworks and the honking of car horns. Said the local president of Mr Bolsonaro's Partido Social Liberal (PSL) party, "Brazil is partying. Brazil's good people are celebrating!"
Footnote: "Partido Social Liberal" = Social Liberal Party. Just shows that the name of party doesn't matter. What matters is what they say and, even more, what they do!
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