The Atlantic

Can Brazil’s Democracy Withstand Jair Bolsonaro?

The far-right former military officer will be Brazil’s next president, but the country’s legislature and courts may yet restrain him.
Source: Ricardo Moraes / Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO—Carlos Alberto da Silva opposes Jair Bolsonaro’s plan to arm Brazil’s citizenry, the way he degrades women and gays, and his aggressive defense of the country’s last dictatorship. But da Silva, a textile-delivery worker in Rio de Janeiro, still voted for him on Sunday.

“I don’t think he’s great, but I want to see if he can change things, because we have to do something about security and about education and the economy,” said the 48-year old da Silva, voting in a run-down school in the poor, violent Complexo da Maré

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