Right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro outperformed polls to emerge as the winner of the first round of presidential elections in no small part because of his focus on security in Brazil.
Although his campaign has been short on details, he has promised a crackdown on armed groups in the country as well as the construction of “mega prisons”, and stricter sentences for violent crime. It’s a pattern that has emerged among right-wing candidates in general in Latin America in recent years.
But despite Flavio’s claims that the left has encouraged criminality, violent crime is down dramatically in Brazil. Moreover, Flavio’s past makes him an unlikely choice to really become a “law and order” head of state.
The candidate has been closely linked the country’s milicias, paramilitary-esque mafias, in Rio de Janeiro, and mafia structures with ties to corrupt politicians.
During his time as senator, Rio’s even mafia called him “our man in the senate.”
To explain that further, as well the context of organized crime in Brazil more broadly, we spoke with Brazilian historian Benjamin Fogel, who is the deputy director of the Alameda Institute, as well a journalist who covers Brazil regularly.
What do Brazil’s criminal structures look like in comparison to other countries in LATAM, and how Flavio it into that dynamic?
Tune in to this week’s episode of Pirate Wire Services to find out!
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