Trump Has Emboldened Bolsonaro's Hostility Toward Democracy, Researcher Says
September 18, 20215:08 PM ET
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Human Rights Watch Americas' senior researcher César Muñoz on their announcement that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is threatening democratic rule.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
While former President Trump and his supporters did not succeed in their attempts to overturn last year's election results here in the U.S., the former president continues to be an inspiration to authoritarian leaders, globally. One of them is Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. In recent weeks, he's made claims without evidence that previous elections in Brazil have been fraudulent, including the ones he won. And he suggested that next year's election may need to be canceled due to unsubstantiated security concerns.
Statements like these are just part of the reason Bolsonaro is sometimes called the Trump of the tropics, and these statements have now led Human Rights Watch to warn that Bolsonaro is threatening democratic rule in Brazil. Cesar Munoz is a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, covering Brazil and Latin American countries. He authored the statement from the organization, and we called him in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to tell us more.
. . .
MARTIN: What else besides these statements has Bolsonaro said or done recently that led Human Rights Watch to issue this warning saying that he's a threat to democracy?
MUNOZ: Yeah, yeah. We are really concerned about his statements and his actions. He, as you mentioned, has been making these baseless claims of electoral fraud and threatening to cancel next year's elections. And even if he - you know, if elections are held, he may be laying the groundwork for contesting the elections, like it happened in the U.S.
More:
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/18/1038606123/trump-has-emboldened-bolsonaros-hostility-toward-democracy-researcher-says
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