1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: Ola. Let you know, USA listener, it's Mariainojosa. Today we're 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: going to share an episode of Brazil on Fire. 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 2: It's a limited podcast. 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: Series from the Real News Network and Nakla Jayir Borsonado's 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: rise was unimaginable just a few years before his election 6 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: to Brazil's presidency. Now he's locked in a tight race 7 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: for his second term against popular left wing former president 8 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: nis Innacio Lula da Silva. On October thirtieth, they'll face 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: off at the final round of Brazil's elections, and many 10 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: fear Bosonadu may resort to a January sixth style coup 11 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: in order to retain power. Host Michael Fox, a Latin 12 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,879 Speaker 1: American based journalist, will take you on a journey to 13 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: understand Brazil's turn toward fascism, Bosonadu's rise, a government that 14 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: set the country ablaze, and the inspiration he got from Trump. 15 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: So here there's Michael with episode one of Brazil on Fire. 16 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: And remember subscribe to Brazil on Fire wherever you get 17 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: your podcasts. 18 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 2: It's late October twenty eighteen, just a day before the 19 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 2: second round of the presidential election in Brazil. A couple 20 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 2: dozen people stand or sit in a white hospital waiting 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 2: room in the northeastern Brazilian state of Sayadam. 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 3: They're all in shock. 23 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 2: Some have their hands over their faces, rocking back and forth. 24 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 2: A woman in a red shirt moans uncontrollably. In the background, 25 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 2: several women try to console her. Her name is Regina Lessa, 26 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 2: She's a union leader there, and her son has just 27 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 2: been pronounced dead. He was shot by a supporter of 28 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 2: presidential candidate JayR. 29 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 3: Bolsonatu. 30 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 2: Lesa and her son had been riding in a caravan 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 2: supporting Bolsonato's opponent, Workers Party candidate Fernando A. Daggi. Witnesses 32 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 2: said the man who killed Lesa's son shouted something about 33 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 2: Bolshonado and then fired at point blank range. Violence like 34 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 2: this had been rippling across the country for weeks. Hundreds 35 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 2: of threats and attacks had been reported, the vast majority 36 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 2: perpetrated by Bolsonado supporters. Mouado Catende was one of the 37 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 2: first victims and the most well known. He was one 38 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 2: of the country's most honored teachers of Afro Brazilian culture, 39 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 2: music and dance, A master of kapuetta de angula, the 40 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 2: traditional Afro Brazilian martial art, That was him singing during 41 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 2: a Kapuetta festival in twenty seventeen. He's playing a bet 42 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 2: in Bao, a percussion instrument with origins in Africa. His 43 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 2: long gray dreadlocks pulled back in a ponytail underneath a 44 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 2: blue and white cap. He was killed on the very 45 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 2: night of the first round vote in early October. A 46 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 2: Bolsonado supporter stabbed him twelve times after an argument where 47 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 2: Katende defended the leftist candidate Adaji. Katende's death sent shock 48 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 2: waves across the country. Many said it was more than 49 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 2: just a murder, it was like a message of what 50 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 2: was to come under Bolshonado. A documentary was made about 51 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 2: his life and death. They called it the First Victim. 52 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 2: Communities held ceremonies in his honor and cities up and 53 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 2: down Brazil. I joined this one in the southern Brazilian 54 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 2: city of Floridanopolis, where I lived at the time. I 55 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 2: was there to cover it as part of a story 56 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 2: I was working on about the rising hate crimes happening 57 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 2: across Brazil. Hundreds of people dressed in white performed in 58 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 2: Afro Brazilian dance in a procession around a square near 59 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 2: the waterfront I see this is all for him, This 60 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 2: is everything he wanted, this good energy. This asche A 61 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 2: man with dreadlocks carrying a long wooden drum told the crowd. 62 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 2: Then he held his hands to eyes and started to cry. 63 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 2: I spoke with a lot of people there about what 64 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 2: they were feeling and where the country was heading. Victor 65 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 2: Leach was one of them. He's a teacher and a 66 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 2: capoeta master with dark hair and a white shirt for 67 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 2: your own. He told me. I believe that what happened 68 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 2: with Master Moa is a metaphor for the moment that 69 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 2: Brazil is living in now, with these forces of hate 70 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 2: and violence. Hate and violence. It was not an accident 71 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 2: that these forces were taking center stage across the country. 72 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 2: Hate and violence was something that candidate Gayobolsonado had built 73 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,679 Speaker 2: his career on. Here he is just a few weeks before, 74 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 2: during a campaign rally in the northern Brazilian state of acre. 75 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 4: Amenfla. 76 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 2: He's at the mic before a sea of supporters. He 77 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,719 Speaker 2: reaches over and picks up a camera tripod. He pulls 78 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 2: it into his arms and holds it up, shaking it 79 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 2: as if he were firing a machine gun. We're gonna 80 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 2: gun down the Workers' Party's supporters here in Acre, he says, 81 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 2: to a huge round of applause, We're gonna run these 82 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 2: crooks out of Acre. See Gaia Bolsonado is a retired 83 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 2: military officer. He served as a captain under the dictatorship. 84 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 2: He's also a longtime member of Congress, where he's been 85 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 2: fined for sexist, racist, and homophobic comments. He sprays torture, 86 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 2: dictatorship and even former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He also 87 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 2: promised violence against his enemies, be they criminals, the corrupt, 88 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 2: or his political adversaries, and he'd risen in the polls 89 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 2: with his radical rhetoric on the backs of a culture 90 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 2: war partly imported from the United States. This is Brazil 91 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 2: on Fire, a podcast about Brazil's descent toward fascism under 92 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 2: President Gaira Bolsonado. This podcast is produced in collaboration with 93 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 2: The Real News and NAC. I'm your host, Michael Fox. 94 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 2: I'm a longtime radio reporter and multimedia journalist. I've lived 95 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 2: in Brazil for years, and I've covered Bolsonado and his 96 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 2: government closely. Over these six episodes, I'll take you on 97 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 2: a journey to understand the story of Bolsonada's rise and 98 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 2: his far right government that set the country ablaze. We'll 99 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 2: visit the birthplace of Brazilian Nazis, evangelical churches, and indigenous 100 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 2: villages in the Amazon. This is Episode one, Violence and 101 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 2: Culture War Boo. I'm on an overnight bus. It's about 102 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,799 Speaker 2: a month before the twenty eighteen election, a month before 103 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 2: those killings. I'm headed from my home in Floridnopolis to 104 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 2: Portlo Legre, about seven hours south. I know the city well. 105 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 2: I met my wife there almost twenty years ago. We 106 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 2: lived there in the late two thousands. It's a town 107 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 2: of about a million and a half on the banks 108 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 2: of the Wayiba River. Its name means happy port, and 109 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 2: it's the capital of Brazil's southernmost state, Hugron Jusoul, which 110 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 2: borders Urduway and Argentina. The residents there are known as gauchos, 111 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 2: another name for South American cowboys, and that's something people 112 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 2: here identify with. Think of it maybe like the Texas 113 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 2: of Brazil. There's even a small secessionist movement, and you 114 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 2: can hear the German influence in their songs, kind of 115 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 2: like Naurtenel music in Mexico. It's not a coincidence. Southern Brazil, 116 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 2: including Hugron, Jusul, Parana, and Santa Catarina, received a huge 117 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 2: influx of European immigrants over the last two centuries. In fact, 118 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 2: my wife, she's from the very town where the first 119 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 2: Germans arrived back in the early eighteen hundreds. Just to 120 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 2: give you an idea, her ancestors were German, Polish, Spanish, 121 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 2: Italian and indigenous. And that plus Black Brazilians, who make 122 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 2: up about a fifth of the state of Hugot and Jusul, 123 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 2: pretty much sums up the demographics of the region. It's 124 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 2: an area that's overwhelmingly white in a country that's majority black, 125 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 2: and like in the United States, inequality is often split 126 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 2: along racial lines. Brazil was the last country in the 127 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 2: Americas to abolish slavery. It was ended in eighteen eighty eight, 128 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 2: only one hundred and thirty four years ago. Today, three 129 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 2: quarters of Brazil's poor are black or brown. It's not 130 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 2: surprising that here Bolsonado and his rhetoric are winning converts. 131 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 2: And that's why I'm on this bus. Bolsonado's in town. 132 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 2: He arrived the day before. Thousands of supporters met him 133 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 2: at the airport. The majority of those in the crowd 134 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 2: were young men. They lifted him onto their shoulders, enchanted 135 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 2: Mito in Portuguese legend. That's what they're calling him, a legend. 136 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,559 Speaker 2: The temperature's gonna heat up. He told the crowd, We're 137 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 2: gonna sweep away corruption, We're gonna take back our values. 138 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 2: This same scene has been repeated at almost every airport 139 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 2: Bolsonado's visited over the lastlast year. But the event I'm 140 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 2: headed for is different. It's a rally of women for Bolsonado. 141 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 2: It's being put on by the local women's chapter of 142 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 2: Bolsonado's new far right party. I couldn't miss it in 143 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 2: particular because those two words women and Bolshonado seem diametrically opposed, 144 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 2: like they shouldn't even be allowed in the same sentence. 145 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 2: See At this point, in late twenty eighteen, women have 146 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 2: been organizing against Bolsonado's candidacy in cities across Brazil. They've 147 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,959 Speaker 2: held rallies in marches. They've launched a Facebook group Ellyo 148 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 2: Not Him, with over a million followers. They're incensed by 149 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 2: his callous regard for women, feminists, black Brazilians, and queer 150 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 2: and trans people see Bolsonado. He's been fined in Congress 151 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 2: for sexist, racist, and homophobic remarks. He called the birth 152 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 2: of his daughter, his first girl after four boys, a 153 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 2: moment of weakness. Several years ago, he told a fellow 154 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 2: congress member that she wasn't worthy of being raped. These 155 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 2: anti Bolsonado rallies remind me of the women's marches following 156 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 2: the election of President Donald Trump, only at this point 157 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 2: Bolsonado hasn't been elected yet, so that's where I'm going. 158 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 2: I wanted to see Bolsonado up close, understand his appeal 159 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 2: for women in southern Brazil and how he's become so popular. 160 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 2: Hundreds of women pack into the football shape conference hall. 161 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 2: Lena Christani sits near the back. She's tall, with shoulder 162 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 2: length brown hair. A mauve scarf hangs around her neck, 163 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 2: just above a gray flowered blouse. On any other morning 164 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,560 Speaker 2: at this time, she's watching her grandchildren. But not today. 165 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 4: Confessors sing javote fas muntos muntozo. 166 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 2: I'll tell you something, she says. After the military regime, 167 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 2: when we started to have elections, we have always voted, 168 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 2: but I feel like I'm voting for the first time. 169 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 2: It seems like it's the first time I'm going to 170 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 2: choose a president that I really wants. I asked her 171 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 2: about Bolsonado's history of misogyny, sexism, homophobia, racism. She shakes 172 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 2: her head and brushes it off. 173 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,200 Speaker 4: No I no I form mospilso is interpreto oke. 174 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 2: That's how people interpret what he says. They don't listen 175 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 2: to his answers, They put words into his mouth, she says. 176 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 2: Her response repeats what countless Bolsonado supporters have said on 177 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 2: the campaign trail, that Bolsonado's just strong willed, that he's honest, 178 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 2: doesn't mince words, and that he's going to defend them 179 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 2: from the corrupt. Both morally and politically. A war is 180 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 2: engulfing Brazil, where ideas are irreconcible across political deviance. Never 181 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:52,719 Speaker 2: before have the words freedom and values meant such completely 182 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 2: different things for different groups of people. Never before has 183 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 2: there been so much manipulation of information, so much fake. 184 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 4: News imprinsipu foimilia. 185 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 2: What most impressed me was that he is in favor 186 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 2: of the family. She says. I believe that family is 187 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 2: the foundation for all of our society, and I don't 188 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 2: see any other candidates stress this clearly. Like him, family, religion, 189 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,679 Speaker 2: valuing our beliefs, preserving our customs. She says, this is 190 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 2: what led me to follow Bolsonado. This sentiment is shared 191 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 2: by most in the audience. A group of women across 192 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 2: the hall unferl a large anti abortion banner and post 193 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 2: for pictures. An evangelical pastor leads the crowd in prayer. 194 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 2: The audience joins, arms lifted into the air, palms open, 195 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 2: facing forward, eyes closed. Let all of us be blessed 196 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 2: this morning, and may He guide this country in favor 197 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 2: of our candidates. Jai Year Bolsonado for President, says the pastor, 198 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 2: May this country know that there is only one God, 199 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 2: and that is you. Finally, Bolsonado arrives. The crowd irrupts. 200 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 2: Men and women jostle for a position to see him. 201 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 2: They cheer, They swarm around him like he's a middle 202 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 2: aged rock star fighting to get a selfie moto. His 203 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 2: speech lasts only five minutes. It's notable only for its 204 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 2: absence of Bravado, in spite trademark components of Bolsonado's public persona. Here, 205 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 2: he's warm and respectful, kind of like he's addressing his 206 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 2: mother and a group of her friends at a women's luncheon. 207 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:52,439 Speaker 2: You what we can do for Brazilian women, for Brazilian families, 208 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 2: he says, is to make sure that these values find 209 00:13:55,400 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 2: a way to become solidified in our brazil family values, security, 210 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 2: the fight against so called gender ideology that's a vague 211 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 2: catch all that conservatives used to claim LGBTQ rights, women's rights, 212 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 2: and gender equity will corrupt society. These are things that 213 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 2: Bolsonado has built his political career on and they're at 214 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 2: the heart of a growing culture war that has been 215 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 2: exploding across Brazil, pushed by Bolsonado on the campaign trail 216 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 2: and influenced by the United States. See that's where the 217 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 2: idea of culture war got its start in the US. 218 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 2: But in order to understand that, we need to take 219 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 2: a short trip even further back in time. 220 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: Robertson today for God and Marion pat Robertson is an 221 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: evangelical Christian who would be president. 222 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 2: It's the nineteen eighties United States. The religious right is 223 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 2: growing in power alongside President Ronald Reagan, and they're pushing 224 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 2: back against the counterculture movements of the nineteen sixties. In 225 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 2: the nineteen seventies, Raise God Almighty, this nation cannot continue 226 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 2: turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the 227 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 2: taking of. 228 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 5: Some four thousand unborn children's lives. 229 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 2: Every day, they're making an impact and becoming increasingly vocal 230 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 2: about issues that are particularly tied to their religious convictions. Abortion, 231 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 2: prayer in school's, same sex marriage, and then. 232 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 6: At Houston's Astrodoum tonight the start of the attempted political 233 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 6: comeback of the President of the United States. 234 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 2: The Republican National Convention nineteen ninety two. Not even a 235 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 2: year has passed since the fall of the Soviet Union 236 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 2: and the end of the Cold War. 237 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 6: Thank you very much, and I'm honored to accept your 238 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 6: nomination for President of the United States. 239 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 2: President George H. W. Bush, the first would be the 240 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 2: Republican nominee for the presidential race, but another candidate, Pat Buchanan, 241 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 2: would define the battleground that US politics would fight over 242 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 2: until today. 243 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 6: There is a religious war going on in this country. 244 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 6: It is a cultural war as critical to the kind 245 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 6: of nation we shall be as the Coal war itself. 246 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 6: For this war is for the soul of America. 247 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 2: Buchanan's issues the lack of prayer and religion in public schools. 248 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 2: To suppose it immorality of same sex marriage and abortion. 249 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 2: You can almost draw this direct line from those debates 250 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 2: to what's happening now. 251 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: It's the Supreme Court. It's what it's all about. 252 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 2: Donald Trump's packing the Supreme Court with conservative justices, the 253 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 2: overturning of Roe versus. Wade, backlash against comprehensive sex ad 254 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 2: in schools. These issues are considered cultural issues because they're 255 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 2: rooted deeply in the religious convictions of many conservatives, their morals, 256 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 2: their values. Like Buchanan said, in these areas, there was 257 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 2: no room for democratic debate or discussion. This was a 258 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 2: war for the soul of America. 259 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 6: My friends. We must take back our cities, and take 260 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 6: back our culture, and take back our country. God bless you, 261 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,399 Speaker 6: and God bless America. 262 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:12,120 Speaker 2: That same war is being fought in Brazil, with Polsonadov 263 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:20,359 Speaker 2: leading the charge as today. This idea that politics becomes 264 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 2: the battleground for the war for the soul of the country. 265 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 2: This is really essential to understanding culture war in Brazil, 266 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 2: says jes Castro Hasha two important. He's one of the 267 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 2: foremost Brazilian experts on the issue of culture war. He's 268 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 2: also a literature professor at Rio de Janio State University. 269 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 2: He tells me that sometimes he wishes he could just 270 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 2: stick with Shakespeare. He took an interest in culture war 271 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 2: because of the language and rhetoric that it deploys saying. 272 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 2: He says, the root of culture war is religious and 273 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 2: it's largely pushed by fundamentalist evangelicals. We'll get into this 274 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 2: in a later episode, but remember that at the time 275 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 2: of the twenty eighteen vote, evangelicals were a huge block 276 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 2: of support for Bolsonado. They made up roughly a quarter 277 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,439 Speaker 2: of Brazilians. Today it's more like a third. And this 278 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 2: evangelical undercurrent is why so many key issues driving the 279 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:19,440 Speaker 2: culture war are related to perceived assaults on traditional gender 280 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 2: roles and the heterosexual nuclear family. Donald Trump and Bolsonado 281 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 2: are supported by fundamentalists evangelical Cis Castro Josha. They don't 282 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 2: deal with politics as a way of negotiating political differences, 283 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 2: but as a means of eliminating their political opponents, because 284 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 2: they believe they hold the essence of absolute truth, he says, 285 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 2: And that is really dangerous. But Bolsonado didn't create this 286 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 2: battleground for the soul of Brazil. He's just been riding 287 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 2: the wave. That distinction in large part goes to this man. 288 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 2: His name is Level the car Value. Castro Hosha says, 289 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 2: no intellectual of the twenty first century has had such 290 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:10,120 Speaker 2: a profound impact on the political culture of country. More 291 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 2: on him and his rural Virginia home in a minute. 292 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 5: Hi, this is Nicole Fabricant, the co executive editor of NAKLA, 293 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:22,120 Speaker 5: the North American Congress on Latin America. Looking for more 294 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 5: independent research and analysis on Latin America. You're definitely going 295 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 5: to want to subscribe to our quarterly magazine, NAKLA Report 296 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 5: on the Americas. At this critical moment of both a 297 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 5: new left surge and rising authoritarianism in the region, incisive 298 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:43,360 Speaker 5: analysis is indispensable. Subscribe to the NACLA Report today at 299 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 5: NAKLA dot org slash subscribe. That's NACLA dot org slash subscribe. 300 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 5: We're thrilled to bring you this special podcast in partnership 301 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 5: with our friends and comrades at the Real News Network, 302 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 5: an awesome nonprofit newsroom covering the struggles of people and 303 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 5: movements worldwide. You can power more projects like this by 304 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 5: becoming a monthly sustainer of their work at therealnews dot com. 305 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 5: Slash join pitching in even just a few bucks a 306 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,679 Speaker 5: month makes a huge difference for both Nakla and the 307 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 5: real News. Thanks for listening. 308 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 2: Down Country Road in rural Virginia, a short drive from Richmond, 309 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 2: the former capital of the Confederacy, lived an old Brazilian 310 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 2: curmudgeon who, over the last couple of decades became one 311 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,919 Speaker 2: of the most important figures in Brazilian politics. And he 312 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 2: did it without leaving his Virginia home. I went for 313 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,119 Speaker 2: a little drive there one evening late last year. See, 314 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 2: I'm from northern Virginia, originally just a couple of hours away. 315 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 2: I was back visiting my parents and I wanted to 316 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 2: get a sense of the place that was literally the 317 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 2: home of the father of Brazil's neo far right. 318 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 3: It's Chile, you know, early November, just west of Richmond. 319 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 3: Here long patches of fields and you can smell the 320 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,639 Speaker 3: cows in the distance. This is his country. It's Trump Country. 321 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 3: We passed a while back, we passed, we passed the 322 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 3: sun farmers for Trump. And it's a lava country too. 323 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 3: It's near where he lives his ranch they call it. 324 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 3: Apparently he got it all fixed up for money from 325 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 3: his from his classes. That's his home in the country. 326 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 3: It's quiet, though it's a long way from Brazil. 327 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 2: O Lava de Carvalio died earlier this year, reportedly from 328 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,920 Speaker 2: complications due to COVID nineteen, something he had previously denied 329 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 2: was a big deal. But his influence cannot be understated. 330 00:21:56,359 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 2: O Lava de Carvalio was a former journalist, astrologer, religious guru, 331 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 2: and self proclaimed philosopher who moved to the United States 332 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:07,119 Speaker 2: in two thousand and five and began training thousands of 333 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 2: young Brazilians in his online philosophy courses. He was not 334 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 2: your typical professor. In his videos, he chain smoked, cursed, 335 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 2: and attacked his opponents. There was no dialectic. There was 336 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 2: only right or wrong, often involving his views on the 337 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 2: evils of the left or international conspiracies. He often called 338 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 2: his opponents idiots. The Democrats are more fearful, and I've 339 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 2: told you this too. They're more fearful of Christians than 340 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 2: they are of al Qaida. If that reminds you a 341 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,439 Speaker 2: little of talk radio in the United States, you're not 342 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:39,119 Speaker 2: far off. Analysts say that when Carvaglio came to the US, 343 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 2: he was influenced by radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, 344 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 2: and even Pap Buchanan, who all became popular by offending 345 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 2: and attacking their opponents. He saw how these personalities had 346 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 2: a profound impact and grew a loyal audience. He adapted 347 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 2: the formula for a Brazilian public, building a huge following 348 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 2: by spreading his right wing ideas over social media and sill. 349 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 2: But he took it a step further. He taught his 350 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,199 Speaker 2: followers the tools and language of how to attack and 351 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 2: dehumanize their adversaries, not to win a political debate, but 352 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 2: to eliminate their opponents. Carvalio built a cult like following. 353 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 2: His students called themselves Olaveci's Okay, ready, hold on the chorus, 354 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 2: there is singing Olavo is right. Olavo is right. It's 355 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 2: one of a surprising number of songs on YouTube that 356 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 2: his followers produced in his honor. Even today, Olava de 357 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 2: Carvalio's YouTube page has over a million subscribers. Carvalio's far 358 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 2: right theories would be amusing if they were not so dangerous. 359 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 2: He said once that ninety nine percent of all Brazilian 360 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,879 Speaker 2: political parties were communist or communist allied, that there was 361 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 2: an international left wing conspiracy to take over Brazil and 362 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 2: the world. Why is a blonde American embarrassed to be white? 363 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,399 Speaker 2: Carvglio said in one video posted in twenty ten, Well, 364 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 2: because there's a two hundred year old campaign of lies 365 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 2: qualifying the white race as the great slave master of 366 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 2: the planet. He even went so far as to say 367 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,640 Speaker 2: that fascism and Nazism were left wing and not far right. 368 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 2: Olavo de Carvaglio laid the groundwork for Bolsonado's rise by 369 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 2: training thousands of Brazilians in his far right ideology, some 370 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 2: of whom Bolsonado would even pick for high profile cabinet 371 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:40,360 Speaker 2: posts once he was elected. But Bolsonado he didn't need 372 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 2: Carvaglio's help to get radicalized. Bolshonado had been pushing his 373 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 2: own violent rhetoric and culture war for a long time, 374 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 2: family values security, attacking so called gender ideology, their issues 375 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 2: that Bolshonado has built his political career on. 376 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: Guate Masca. 377 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,959 Speaker 2: Remember, although he fashioned himself as an outsider, Bolshonado had 378 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 2: served as a congressman for decades, where he carried out 379 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 2: his own mutantius far right crusade against the political left, 380 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,280 Speaker 2: fighting in particular against gender equality and diversity, feminism, and 381 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 2: LGBTQ rights, things that today we'd consider part of the 382 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 2: conservative culture war. 383 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 4: Oh no, Maisima. 384 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 2: That's him in Congress back in twenty eleven, denouncing a 385 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 2: federal campaign to combat homophobian schools. He called it a 386 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 2: gay kit, which he said was a leftist push to 387 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 2: teach homosexuality to children. He would rail against this supposed 388 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 2: gay kit for the next seven years until the lead 389 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 2: up to the election, when the courts barred him from 390 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 2: mentioning it because he was using it as fake news 391 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 2: to attack his political opponent, Bolshonado. He also came of 392 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 2: age under the dictatorship when, as a young captain, he 393 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,640 Speaker 2: was taught that the fight was not against some other country, 394 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 2: but against an internal enemy, the Communists or the left. 395 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 2: That is how he's done politics ever since, and in 396 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 2: the years leading up to the twenty eighteen election, he 397 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 2: chose as the leading target of his attacks the country's 398 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,680 Speaker 2: most prominent gay Congressman, Jean. 399 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 3: Wheelis bozil Gaizabeth. 400 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 2: Wheelis is a former reality TV star, a former two 401 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 2: term leftist congressman, and the most outspoken official for LGBTQ 402 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 2: rights in Brazil's history, Bolsonado heckled him constantly. So President, 403 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 2: Here's just one moment. You can hear Bolsonato pounding the 404 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 2: table and yelling at Wheeli's as he leaves a committee hearing. 405 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 2: Here's another when they happen to be seated next to 406 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,120 Speaker 2: one another on a flight to Brasilia. Bolsonado's filming Wheelis 407 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 2: with his cell phone, Wheelis changes seats. Bosonado jokes to 408 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 2: the camera that he feels discriminated against. The video went viral. 409 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 2: Jean wheelis the face of the LGBTQ movement in Congress, 410 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 2: Bolsonado the leading homophobe. In many ways, Bolsonado built his 411 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 2: no holds barred Trump like political image by bashing leftist leaders, 412 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 2: powerful feminists, and above all, Jean wheelislaboratorio. I was the 413 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 2: guinea pig for everything that jayor Bolsonado would do. Later, 414 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,399 Speaker 2: Weelis told journalist Pedro bial in an interview. I was 415 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,480 Speaker 2: the guinea pig and the latter that he would use 416 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 2: to climb until I came to Congress, when he realized 417 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,400 Speaker 2: that homophobia was a way of inserting himself into society 418 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 2: and gaining power. He was a provincial, second class congressman 419 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 2: from Rio de Janeiro that people just ignored. As the 420 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 2: twenty eighteen election approached, things got bad for Wheelis serious 421 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 2: death threats, particularly in March twenty eighteen after the killing 422 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 2: of marie. 423 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 5: Lefranco Marielli Present. 424 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 6: Marie She was a. 425 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,919 Speaker 2: Real Desannaio City councilor from one of Brazil's most dangerous favelas. 426 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,439 Speaker 2: Like Jean Willis, she too was black and gay, and 427 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 2: they were friends. When Marielli died, something broke inside of me, 428 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:33,919 Speaker 2: said Willis. Mariel Present. Marielli left behind a wife and 429 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 2: a daughter. She too had stood up in defense of 430 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 2: poor and black communities, and increasingly for gay rights. She 431 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 2: was an outspoken critic of police brutality and extra judicial killings, 432 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 2: the very thing that took her life. The news of 433 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 2: her killing tore across Brazil. Marches and protests poured into 434 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 2: the streets. Rallies filled plazas even abroad. They carried signs, 435 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 2: often with the stenciled image of Madielli's smiling face. Just 436 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 2: days after her death, Wheeley started to be accompanied by 437 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 2: three bodyguards and two armored cars. The threats had always 438 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 2: been bad, but never like this death. Threats would also 439 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 2: rise against leading feminists and leftists in Rio de Janeiro 440 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 2: and elsewhere. Hate crimes and violence rippled across the country 441 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 2: as bolshnat arose in the polls ahead of the election, 442 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 2: he campaigned with a barrage of fake news and a 443 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 2: social media machine the likes of which the country had 444 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 2: never seen. His supporters and his bot army spread false 445 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 2: information claiming that his closest opponent, Fernando Daggi, owned a 446 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,280 Speaker 2: yellow ferrari, defended incests, and wanted to hand the country's 447 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 2: children over to the state. Businessmen allied with Bolshonado illegally 448 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 2: paid millions of US dollars to inundate Brazilians with texts 449 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 2: in support of his campaign over the messaging application What's Up. 450 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 2: In October, the Workers Party opened a hotline to receive 451 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,720 Speaker 2: complaints of false or misleading news and means over the app. 452 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 2: Within twenty four hours, they received fifteen thousand messages, ah. 453 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 3: And them. 454 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 2: Our election will not be decided by the candidate's proposals 455 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 2: or their speeches. Sal Polo. Poet and street artist Gianni 456 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 2: Baffo told me one afternoon in October in a trendy 457 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 2: neighborhood in Salpolo. It'll be decided by the lies spread online, 458 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 2: he said, by the ability of some groups to push 459 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 2: fake news and the ability of us, the voters, to 460 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 2: discern what is and what is not real. Finally, election night, 461 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 2: Bolshnada would win with fifty six percent of the vote. 462 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 2: His supporters celebrated outside his home in a posh Rhodas 463 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 2: arrogated community. 464 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 5: Lonka Is jeeves iium Saya presents the deils ye are 465 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 5: fourth of that night. 466 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:15,280 Speaker 2: During his acceptance speech, several books adorned Bolsonado's table. Among 467 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 2: them were the Bible, the Brazilian Constitution, and Olavo de 468 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 2: Carvalio's The Minimum You Need to Know to Not be 469 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 2: an Idiot. Jean Wheelis left before Bolsonado's inauguration. He was 470 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 2: the first political exile of the Bolsonado government, though there 471 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 2: would be others. A month later, he announced he wouldn't 472 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 2: be returning to carry out his third term in Congress. 473 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 2: Hearted as the reason why I'm here out of Brazil 474 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,040 Speaker 2: is to preserve my life, he said at his first 475 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 2: press conference in Berlin, Germany. In the video shared by 476 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 2: DW Brazil, he wears a gray v neck sweater and 477 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,080 Speaker 2: holds a black microphone in one hand, and the winter 478 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 2: sky out the window behind him is dull and overcast. 479 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 2: These causes don't need a martyr, he said. We already 480 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 2: have a martyr, Maria Lefranco. We don't need another. These 481 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 2: causes need an activist, and an activist needs to be alive. 482 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,320 Speaker 2: For most of the previous year, he had lived with bodyguards. 483 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 2: Without them, he couldn't leave his home, not even to 484 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 2: walk to the corner store. 485 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: No food. This is on this socide. 486 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 2: It wasn't an easy decision, he said, but it was 487 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 2: necessary because what I was living in Brazil was not alive. 488 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,440 Speaker 2: It was only living half a life. I was suffering 489 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:40,000 Speaker 2: from psychological terrorism, produced by death threats that were frequent, 490 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 2: almost daily, and an orchestrated campaign of defamation that was 491 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 2: transforming me into a pariah and a public enemy inside 492 00:32:47,640 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 2: my own country. This is where the lines blur between culture, 493 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,720 Speaker 2: war and violence. In the dissent toward fascism, hate lies, 494 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 2: violence and authoritarianism. The faces of fascism tools for a 495 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 2: power hungry leader looking to push his way to the presidency, 496 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 2: Grab hold and hang on. But Bolshonado needed something else. 497 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 2: To win in twenty eighteen, he needed the path cleared. 498 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 2: See for most of that electoral season, someone else was 499 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 2: ahead in the polls, far ahead, but he was jailed 500 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 2: on supposed corruption charges by a biased judge six months 501 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 2: out from the election and blocked from running. In the 502 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 2: next episode, we'll look at the fight to free former 503 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,959 Speaker 2: President luisid Nasio Lula da Silva from prison, the corruption 504 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,840 Speaker 2: investigation that jailed him, the role of the United States, 505 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,040 Speaker 2: and what it all means ahead of this year's election. 506 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 2: As Lula again leads in the polls, John Willis, he says, 507 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:06,840 Speaker 2: if Lula wins, he's coming home. Before I go, let 508 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:08,759 Speaker 2: me just say that this podcast has been a labor 509 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 2: of love for a long time, and I'm grateful to 510 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,320 Speaker 2: everyone who's helped to make it a reality. See you 511 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:14,880 Speaker 2: next time. I'm Brazil on Fire.