The radical agenda of Brazil’s new president
He has a chance to transform his country but he may do it grave harm
“HOPE, FINALLY, defeated fear,” declared Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva upon becoming Brazil’s president 16 years ago. Many Brazilians greeted the election of Lula, a left-wing former trade-union leader who vowed to uplift the poor, with optimism bordering on ecstasy. The government led by his Workers’ Party at first brought prosperity, but its 13 years in power ended in a nightmare of economic depression and corruption. Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s chosen successor, was impeached in 2016. Lula himself is serving a 12-year jail sentence for graft.
The fear and rage this caused has ushered into power Jair Bolsonaro, who took office on January 1st. He will be a different sort of president: fiercely socially conservative, a fan of Brazil’s military dictatorship of 1964-85, confrontational where most predecessors were conciliatory. And yet Brazilians greet him with something of the hope that welcomed Lula. Three-quarters say they like what they have seen since his election.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "A dangerous populist, with some good ideas"
From the January 3rd 2019 edition
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