By Matt Sandy/Brasília
Bolsonaro,
photographed in
his oice in June,
is riding a wave
of disillusionment
as voters turn
against democracyWorld
RIO’S
Meet Jair Bolsonaro.He stands for law and order, traditional family values
and nostalgia for an era whena murderous authoritarian regime ran Brazil.
In October,voters might make him President. How did Brazil come to this?
ON THE WALL OF JAIR BOLSONARO’S OFFICE IN A MODERN-
ist annex of Brazil’s Congress hang ive faded black-and-
white portraits. They are memoirs of a time many Brazilians
would prefer to forget, when military generals ruled the
country from 1964 until 1985 and the cost of insurrection
was kidnap, torture and secret execution.
Bolsonaro, the de facto front runner for the Brazilian
presidential election that begins on Oct. 7, is the foremost
apologist for that era. He has made a career eulogizing its
abuses and—for a decade after the return of democracy in
1989—calling for its reinstatement. Today he is proud of his
support of the regime he served as an army captain.
Now, with Brazil mired in a profound political crisis
that has left many citizens despairing of its leaders, the Rio
de Janeiro Congressman—long a marginal igure—says he
alone can solve the problems of the largest nation in Latin
America and be trusted to protect its youthful democracy. A
growing share of Brazilians are willing to take that chance.
It’s hard to overstate the rage and disgust at the estab-
lishment in this country. Since the last election, a sprawling
probe into corruption at the state oil giant has led to the
impeachment of one President, the jailing of another and the
disintegration of a fragile faith in the political class. Brazil
has sufered its worst recession in history. With public
services crippled by a lack of funds and rampant crime, 7 in
10 Brazilians say they have no trust in any political party.
This has allowed Bolsonaro to assume the mantle ofRADICAL
PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL MARENCO FOR TIME