At the same time, revelations that executives of Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, and other enterprises, had siphoned off millions of dollars in contract manipulations further weakened the Workers’ Party’s image among broad sectors of the middle classes, who, in the current elections, have mostly moved to the far-right.
On-going urban violence, in part linked to the drug trade, but also a result of the worsening economic situation, has also fueled support for Bolsonaro’s law and order discourse. His proposals to arm all citizens, offer impunity for police involved in shootings, and crudely racist language against people of color have alarmed human rights advocates. [...]
Bolsonaro calls for the retraction of legislation that protects battered women. He criticizes affirmative action programs that have allowed tens of thousands of Afro-descendants and indigenous people to enter the country’s universities, diversifying higher education for the first time in the country’s history.
In televised comments he has condemned interracial marriages, defended the rape of women, and called for violence against LGBT people. His opposes teaching the concept of gender in public schools, and decries the influence of the ideas of the late world-renowned and anti-authoritarian Brazilian educator Paulo Freire.
Supported by evangelical Christians and conservative sectors of the Catholic Church, he has explicitly condemned minority religions, although Brazil’s constitutions have separated the church and state for the last 140 years.
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