{"id":84676,"date":"2019-04-18T08:25:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T12:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/bolsonaros-approval-rating-is-worse-than-any-past-brazilian-president-at-the-100-day-mark\/"},"modified":"2019-04-18T08:25:32","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T12:25:32","slug":"bolsonaros-approval-rating-is-worse-than-any-past-brazilian-president-at-the-100-day-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/bolsonaros-approval-rating-is-worse-than-any-past-brazilian-president-at-the-100-day-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"Bolsonaro\u2019s Approval Rating is Worse Than Any Past Brazilian President at the 100-Day Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bolsonaro\u2019s Approval Rating is Worse Than Any Past Brazilian President at the 100-Day Mark<\/b><\/p>\n

Jair Bolsonaro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was elected last year on a wave of popular anger at the country\u2019s stagnant economy and political chaos, promising voters a \u201cbetter future<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

After just over 100 days in office, many Brazilians feel this right-wing former congressman has not delivered<\/a> on that promise. <\/p>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s approval rating, which began dropping immediately after he took office on Jan. 1, has declined from 49% in January to 34% in late March<\/a>, according to the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics. That\u2019s the lowest ever recorded for a Brazilian president at the 100-day mark.<\/p>\n

Nepotism, hate speech and mismanagement<\/h2>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s rise to lead Latin America\u2019s biggest country<\/a> after 13 years of leftist leadership was made possible by years of overlapping political, economic and crime crises that created widespread disillusionment<\/a> across Brazil.<\/p>\n

Capitalizing on voter frustrations, Bolsonaro, a longtime lower house representative, ran a polarizing outsider campaign not unlike the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump<\/a>, now a close ally<\/a>. He demonized women<\/a> and minorities, attacked democratic institutions and, according to a Brazilian court, incited hate and violence<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Still, he won the presidency last October with 55% of the vote<\/a>, an average share of votes which does not compare to the more than 60% share of former President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva\u2019s consecutive landslide victories<\/a> in the 2002 and 2006 elections. In Brazil, voting is compulsory.<\/p>\n

Many Brazilians expressed hope that, once in office, Bolsonaro would set the demagogy and bigotry aside to focus on addressing the huge challenges facing Brazil. These include a long-stagnant economy<\/a>, rampant government corruption<\/a> and record-setting urban violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n

Hours after taking office, Bolsonaro issued an executive order that decreased environmental protections of the Amazon<\/a>, outraging environmentalists worldwide and endangering the indigenous Brazilians who live<\/a> in the world\u2019s biggest rainforest. <\/p>\n

On a recent visit to the Holocaust Museum in Israel, Bolsonaro made headlines for claiming that Germany\u2019s Nazi Party was a leftist regime<\/a>. His foreign affairs minister only made things worse when he defended his boss\u2019s comments by explaining that both Nazis and socialists are \u201canti-capitalist, anti-religion, collectivist [and] against individual freedom<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Picking unnecessary fights<\/h2>\n

Bolsonaro has demonstrated a lack of mastery of the legislative process, despite having been a lawmaker for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

Reforming Brazil\u2019s expensive, ailing pension system was one of Bolsonaro\u2019s main electoral promises<\/a> to boost the economy. But his mismanagement of negotiations around a bill to save Brazil $US270 billion over the next 10 years<\/a> by raising the retirement age and increasing individual contributions has frustrated the fragile, cross-party coalition of lawmakers working to pass his plan.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro has picked fights<\/a> with supporters of the bill, including the speaker of the lower house. And he has failed to explain critical aspects of the proposed reform<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Pension reform, which requires three-fifths congressional support to pass, now seems unlikely to happen<\/a> before the June deadline Bolsonaro set \u2013 if it happens at all. <\/p>\n

<\/a>
Pension reform also eluded Bolsonaro\u2019s predecessor, former President Michel Temer, who was indicted on charges of money laundering in March.<\/span>
\n AP Photo\/Leo Correa<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s controversial cabinet<\/h2>\n

Concerns over corruption have likewise clouded Bolsonaro\u2019s first 100 days.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro has failed to take seriously repeated corruption allegations against numerous aides<\/a>. That\u2019s risky in Brazil, where a multi-year judicial investigation still underway has sent two presidents<\/a>, several lawmakers<\/a> and dozens of corporate executives to jail for bribery.<\/p>\n

And Bolsonaro recently raised eyebrows by suggesting that he\u2019d like to appoint his son Carlos, a far-right Rio de Janiero city councilman who manages the president\u2019s Twitter feed, to join his cabinet<\/a>. All three of the president\u2019s sons play an unusually active role in their father\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s frequent positive references to military dictatorship as a form of governance also has critics worried.<\/p>\n

Protests erupted in early April after Bolsonaro called on Brazilians<\/a> to honor the anniversary of the 1964 coup<\/a> that ushered in military rule in Brazil. Brazil\u2019s 24-year military dictatorship claimed 191 lives<\/a>, \u201cdisappeared\u201d 210 dissidents and tortured several thousand people, according to a 2014 government report<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cLiberty and democracy only exist when the armed forces want them to,\u201d Bolsonaro has since commented<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro served in Brazil\u2019s armed forces. His vice president, Hamilton Mour\u00e3o<\/a>, is a retired general. And eight out of the 22 ministers in Bolsonaro\u2019s cabinet are military officers. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s a higher proportion of military men<\/a> in government than any prior democratic administration in Brazil \u2013 higher even than some of its authoritarian regimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of Bolsonaro\u2019s civilian cabinet ministers are equally controversial. <\/p>\n

Damares Alves, the evangelical pastor picked to lead Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, has made it her mission to promote \u201cfamily values<\/a>,\u201d which entails promoting traditional values and combating abortion as well as gender equality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a new era in Brazil: Boys wear blue and girls<\/a> wear pink!\u201d she announced<\/a> on her first day in office.<\/p>\n

Historically, the human rights ministry has worked to improve the lives of minorities in Brazil and ensure their legal protection.<\/p>\n

And Bolsonaro\u2019s first minister of education, Ricardo V\u00e9lez<\/a> Rodr\u00edguez \u2013 who has since been fired for mismanagement<\/a> \u2013 outraged teachers when he ordered all public schools to submit to the ministry a video<\/a> of schoolchildren singing the national anthem on the first day of the new school year.<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s literacy rate is among the lowest in Latin America, at 92%<\/a>. And its school dropout rate is among the region\u2019s highest: 28% of students never graduate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His demand may also have been illegal, since Brazilian law prohibits the recording of minors without parental consent.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro was elected to snap Brazil out of a deep slump. After three months in office, the \u201cbetter future\u201d he promised looks a lot like the crisis that came before.<\/p>\n

Helder Ferreira do Vale<\/a>, Associate Professor, Graduate School of International and Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post Bolsonaro\u2019s Approval Rating is Worse Than Any Past Brazilian President at the 100-Day Mark<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"
\n<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro’s Approval Rating is Worse Than Any Past Brazilian President at the 100-Day Mark<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n