Journalled on Wednesday, 6 September 2023 | Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro: 28 degrees, hot, sunny, and slightly overcast.
It’s the middle of the week again. Half the week has passed, and the other half is yet to come.
However, this is a bit of a lie because today is the eve of a bank holiday. Tomorrow will be Brazilian Independence Day, the 7th of September. Traditionally, on this date, there are armed forces processions in the major state capitals, particularly in Brasilia, the country’s capital.
Last year, millions took to the streets to honour their country, their armed forces, and their president at that time, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, who has always been a controversial right-wing politician.
He served as a captain in the Brazilian army for many years, then served as a congressman for more than 20 years before becoming president. He is a public figure who rarely measures his words and says what he thinks without thinking about the consequences.
One of the reasons he was elected president was his down-to-earth, outspoken behaviour, which the Brazilian people identified with. They were tired of being manipulated and lied to by the traditional, old-school Brazilian politicians and, more recently, the left.
The extreme Brazilian left wing, led by Lula Inacio da Silva, labelled Bolsonaro a man of hate for his forthright opinions. However, on the last Brazilian Independence Day, millions went to the streets to honour their country and their president, Bolsonaro.
This is strange. If he were so hateful, preaching hate to everybody, why does such a large part of the population love him so much? Why is he so popular, and why do people respect him and believe in his capacity? When Bolsonaro assumed the presidency of Brazil in 2018, the country was utterly broke and literally on its knees.
The previous left-wing government in Brazil faced a presidential impeachment for Dilma Rousseff’s numerous administrative crimes and acts of irresponsibility. This led to a steep decline and recession in Brazil, with ongoing accusations of corruption, which is endemic in the left in Brazil. These issues have been slowly destroying Brazil.
Brazilians and people living in Brazil are tired of being poor and working to survive.
Corruption scandals are a daily occurrence, whether in newspapers, on the internet, or on the news. It’s impossible to understand how such a beautiful country with abundant resources can survive in this situation.
State companies like Petrobras have been involved in enormous scandals involving billions of dollars in Brazil, the United States, Wall Street and other countries and their governments. The corruption scheme extends beyond Petrobras to other state companies and even involves governments outside of Brazil. Brazil was bleeding money and suffering as a result.
The left-wing government had been in power for almost 16 years and suffered a presidential impeachment. Two years later, Bolsonaro won the presidential election and assumed the presidency in January 2018.
He promised to eradicate corruption in Brazil and to appoint technical experts to ministerial and high government positions, which in the past had been given to politicians who engaged in corruption.
His goal was to make Brazil a great country again. Bolsonaro achieved some of what he promised but made many naive mistakes due to his inexperience as president. Nevertheless, Brazil was improving despite the difficult pandemic, which was challenging for everyone, especially in a country like Brazil.
He received a lot of criticism for insisting on using a medicine to fight COVID that was not scientifically proven, as many people were dying.
He lost significant support during this time and came under heavy fire from the left, who used the situation to discredit him. However, he insisted on taking a pragmatic approach, which the mainstream media used against him.
He had always criticised Globo, Brazil’s leading and most powerful media company, which received a lot of money from the left government in the past. When he came into power, Bolsonaro cut much of the funds destined for Globo.
His mindset was that the Brazilian government should cut expenses, save money, and run a tight ship. Due to his inexperience, Bolsonaro made many enemies among major market players, which made his presidency even more difficult.
In some ways, it was as if Brazil were in an undeclared civil war, where no shots were fired, but two sides were fighting for power and sovereignty. It was a mess. In the 2022 elections, he was expected to be re-elected.
However, under highly suspicious circumstances, in which Brazil used electronic ballot boxes with no paper record, Bolsonaro was defeated by Lula, who had been imprisoned for corruption more than a year earlier.
Only in Brazil can an ex-president be tried for corruption, sentenced to eight years in prison, and, after serving two years, be freed by the Supreme Court of Brazil to return to politics and become president again.
President Lula received much support from Globo because of economic interests and the Supreme Court during the presidential elections. The Supreme Court manipulated many aspects of the polls, including preventing specific achievements from being marketed. They also counselled, chased, intimidated, and influenced Bolsonaro’s supporters, politicians, etc.
What was already a mess had become even greater under highly suspicious circumstances through the electronic ballot boxes and the mainstream media. Bolsonaro lost, and Lula became president. Until now, nothing has been clarified other than that the numbers don’t add up, and the people of Brazil are bewildered. I’m confused.
Brazil is sinking once more into corruption and incompetence, and those who always pay this expensive bill are the suffering people. Brazilians are good, honest, and hospitable. They are working people who need good leadership. What Brazil is lacking is leadership.
It will be interesting to see the turnout in the streets tomorrow. Last year, it was like an open-air rock concert from the past, with hundreds of thousands of people singing, dancing, and celebrating their country.
Let’s see how it will be tomorrow.
The day, being the eve of a bank holiday, is usually a bit lazy. I did some exercise in the park with Perola, gave some classes, and posted on the blog, but nothing broke a sweat.
In bed by 11 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
