Brazil's far-right candidate falls short of election stunner

[question everything]

Source: AP

SAO PAULO (AP) — A far-right former army captain who expresses nostalgia for Brazil's military dictatorship won the first round of its presidential election by a surprisingly large margin Sunday but fell just short of getting enough votes to avoid a runoff against a leftist rival.

Jair Bolsonaro, whose last-minute surge almost gave him an electoral stunner, had 46 percent compared to 29 percent for former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad, according to figures from Brazil's Superior Electoral Tribunal with 99.9 percent of the vote counted. He needed over 50 percent support to win outright.


Read more: https://www.mrt.com/news/crime/article/Brazil-votes-amid-anger-at-the-ruling-class-13287733.php

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John Oliver dedicated most of his program to these elections and to Bolsonaro who is described as the Brazilian Trump. Scary.

[Pachamama]

1. Bolsonaro is a latin Trump on steroids....

Thankfully he didnt get 50 percent and I pray for Brazil that Fernando Haddad will beat him in the General Election....

He isn't just a "I can grab em by the Pussy guy", he is a "I should rape you because I can guy"....

[Tiggeroshii]

2. Trump doesnt even come close to the level of dictator bolsenaro will be

[SergeStorms]

5. It's not for lack of trying.

The U.S. has slightly more Constitutional restraint on Trump than Brazil's "wild west" shoot out constitutional philosophy. I can see Bolsonaro and Trump becoming best buds for life though, and that is fucking scary.

[StevieM]

3. This guy is terrifying. And he is a climate change denier. That is dangerous in a country

that we need to protect the Amazon.

[Thekaspervote]

4. Hopefully the good people of Brazil see what's happening here and are turning away!!

[GatoGordo]

9. I am following the election pretty closely. 3 problems.

1. The "left" in Brasil has a problem in that everyone is attaching Chavismo (a train wreck in Venezuela) to Fernando Haddad. And Haddad isn't necessarily running away from it. He should be.

2. The "martyrdom" of Jair Bolsonaro after he was shived by a Chavista fanatic.

3. The corruption charges (Dilma, Lula) that have dogged the political left in all of Latin America. Not that the right in Latin America is any better, but many of the politicians are in jail (Lula) and many others (Correa) have fled. This after vowing to "clean up LA politics"???

The good news is, the political left absolutely DOMINATES in Latin America. Even the opposition candidates are very "left leaning" if not outright socialist. You will find very few true "right wing" candidates. Fernando Haddad of the PT (Workers Party) is considerably leftist.

[a la izquierda]

6. For those of you who don't know the history...

Just do a little bit of research on Brazil’s last dictatorship. It will make what’s happening in the US look like child’s play.
I can recommend some books if anyone is interested.

[2naSalit]

7. And then there's

election meddling which has been going on for years, just like here.

[Oneironaut]

8. "I'm a dictator who will take away your rights" is a good election slogan somehow.

I bet it would work in the US too. “Vote for me - I’ll cancel the elections and immediately begin genocide” (Wild cheers from the crowd of rubes begin)