Brazil's new far right President-elect today insisted he was a “defender of freedom” amid fears his election victory will lead to a crackdown on human rights.
Jair Bolsonaro’s victory in yesterday’s run-off vote marks a huge swing to the right for Brazil, which was ruled by the left-wing Workers’ Party for 13 years between 2003 and 2016.
“We cannot continue flirting with communism. We are going to change the destiny of Brazil,” Mr Bolsonaro said in his acceptance speech early today, in which he vowed to stand firm on his campaign promise to stamp out corruption and battle the rampant crime that has blighted the country.
“The commitment I made to the Brazilian people was to create a decent government and I guarantee you that I will,” the 63-year-old told his cheering supporters.
Seeking to reassure critics who worry about his admiration for Brazil’s controversial years under military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985 and the generals’ use of torture on political opponents, he insisted his government will be a “defender of democracy and the constitution”.
Minutes after the result was confirmed, US President Donald Trump called Brazil’s new leader to congratulate him on his election victory and both men expressed a strong commitment to work together, the White House said.
The former army captain’s rise has been fuelled by anger over Brazil’s slump into a deep recession after years of leftist rule and a corruption scandal that reached into the highest levels of government.
He won 55.2 per cent of the votes cast against 44.8 per cent for Fernando Haddad from the left-wing Workers’ Party.
Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters cheered and set off fireworks outside his home in Rio de Janeiro’s Barra de Tijuca beachfront neighborhood as his victory was announced.
In Brazil’s commercial capital of Sao Paulo, the victory was greeted with fireworks and the honking of car horns.
Mr Bolsonaro’s outspoken political incorrectness and his history of making homophobic, misogynistic and racist remarks has led him to be branded “Trump of the tropics”.
He has reportedly described having a daughter as a “weakness”. He once told a political opponent in Congress she was “too ugly” to be raped and said he would rather one of his four sons “die in an accident” than be gay.
During his election campaign he said he would allow the police more autonomy to shoot at criminals and vowed to make it easier for Brazilians to own guns so they can fight crime.
