Brazil on Fire The Real News Network

On Jan. 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil's capital in a failed attempt to spark a military coup. In scenes that drew instant comparison to the events of Jan. 6th, 2021 in the US, Bolsonaro supporters smashed windows, destroyed artwork, and even climbed on the roofs of government buildings before being rounded up and arrested en masse by security forces.

In this update to Brazil on Fire, Michael Fox examines the significance of the failed coup in scattering pro-Bolsonaro forces and uniting the country behind Lula, who has already embarked on an aggressive agenda to undo his predecessor's legacy. While Lula may be triumphant for now, the battle for Brazil's future is far from settled. As Bolsonaro licks his wounds in exile in Florida, the question remains as to how he might scheme with his US-based allies in the future. Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez returns to the show to delve deeper into the links between Brazil and the US's evangelical right and neofascist movements.

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Brazil has a new president-elect.

Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the Brazilian presidency on October 30th. He defeated far-right president Jair Bolsonaro by just over 2 million votes. Tens of thousands of Lula supporters descended on Sao Paulo’s Paulista Avenue for huge celebrations. Brazil on Fire host Michael Fox was there and he takes us to the streets.

But Bolsonaro supporters were also mobilizing. They shut down highways and called for the military to intervene.

In this second update to Brazil on Fire, we look at Lula’s victory, Bolsonaro’s disinformation campaign that is keeping Bolsonaro’s supporters in the streets, Bolsonaro’s ties to Donald Trump’s former White House strategist Steve Bannon, and how Bannon is trying to spread a fake news fraud narrative to bolster Bolsonaro and divide Brazil, like the United States after Trump’s 2020 defeat. We hear from UFSC International Relations professor Camila Feix Vidal about the shared tactics of the international far-right and University of Virginia Media Studies professor David Nemer about Bolsonaro's unprecedented use of fake news and disinformation in the election.

This is Brazil on Fire, a podcast about Brazil’s descent toward fascism under President Jair Bolsonaro. We look at Bolsonaro’s far-right government that has set the country ablaze, and how the United States helped him do it. We visit the birthplace of Brazilian Nazism, evangelical churches, and Indigenous villages in the Amazon.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido

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The first round of Brazil’s elections has come and gone. As expected, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the big winner, with 48%. But he fell short of winning outright. Current President Jair Bolsonaro exceeded expectations and came in just a handful of points behind the former president. And it’s going to mean weeks of intense campaigning as Bolsonaro has now become a real contender for the second-round election at the end of the month.

In this first update to Brazil on Fire, we look at what it all means and how things stand ahead of the runoff election on Oct. 30. In particular, we analyze the media spin in the wake of the first-round vote in an in-depth interview with Brian Mier, editor of the English-language news site BrasilWire.

This is Brazil on Fire, a podcast about Brazil’s descent toward fascism under President Jair Bolsonaro. Over these six episodes we look at Bolsonaro’s far-right government that has set the country ablaze, and how the United States helped him do it. We’ll visit the birthplace of Brazilian Nazism, evangelical churches, and Indigenous villages in the Amazon.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

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The Amazon is a place that both Brazil’s former military regime and President Jair Bolsonaro have eyed with dreams of development, looking to take advantage of bountiful resources.
It’s a place where Bolsonaro’s deconstruction of state institutions is wreaking havoc. Where illegal and armed actors are pushing into formerly protected areas and plundering the land to make a quick profit. Where Indigenous people are constantly under threat, whether staring down the barrel of a gun, fires, or COVID, and their territories and their way of life are under attack — the invaders slowly eating away at the forests that have given them life for generations.

And where Bolsonaro has been empowering those behind the devastation.

There is no other place in Brazil that better symbolizes the destruction that Bolsonaro has wrought on the country.

The Amazon is under attack. The fires are just the most visible sign.

This is Brazil on Fire, a podcast about Brazil’s descent toward fascism under President Jair Bolsonaro. Over these six episodes we look at Bolsonaro’s far-right government that has set the country ablaze, and how the United States helped him do it. We’ll visit the birthplace of Brazilian Nazism, evangelical churches, and Indigenous villages in the Amazon.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido.

Follow Brazil on Fire at The Real News Network: https://therealnews.com/brazil-on-fire-pod

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Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/brazil-on-fire-episode-5-ghosts-of-the-past

Brazil’s military dictatorship was a dark time in the country’s history. Hundreds were killed. Thousands jailed and tortured. And it is an era that President Jair Bolsonaro remembers with nostalgia—It's where he got his start, and a thing he has long championed as being worthy of returning to.

As president, Bolsonaro has called for the closure of Congress and the Supreme Court, marched with supporters to demand military intervention, and appointed more military officials to his government than any leader since the end of the dictatorship.

In this episode, we will dive head-first into Brazil’s military regime, which ran the country from 1964 through to 1985. We’ll look at the country’s failure to reckon with the past, and Bolsonaro’s steps to push Brazil back in that direction.

This is Brazil on Fire, a podcast about Brazil’s descent toward fascism under President Jair Bolsonaro. Over these six episodes we look at Bolsonaro’s far-right government that has set the country ablaze, and how the United States helped him do it. We’ll visit the birthplace of Brazilian Nazism, evangelical churches, and Indigenous villages in the Amazon.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido.

Follow Brazil on Fire at The Real News Network: https://therealnews.com/brazil-on-fire-pod

Help The Real News Network continue producing stories like Brazil on Fire by following us and making a small donation:
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Brazil has a long and complicated history with fascism, going back to the early 20th century. Far-right and white supremacist groups have been emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro—with some members of his own cabinet openly sporting Nazi tattoos. They’ve unleashed online attacks, pushed fake news and misinformation in favor of Bolsonaro, and they’ve threatened Brazil’s Supreme Court and its justices. But the country’s top court is pushing back.

In this episode, we look at Brazil’s troubled past of reactionary fascist forces, and how Bolsonaro’s rise unleashed them anew.

This is Brazil on Fire, a podcast about Brazil’s descent toward fascism under President Jair Bolsonaro. Over these six episodes we look at Bolsonaro’s far-right government that has set the country ablaze, and how the United States helped him do it. We’ll visit the birthplace of Brazilian Nazism, evangelical churches, and Indigenous villages in the Amazon.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck: @coletivocatarse
Theme music by Monte Perdido: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nexDyQCZI89JH8zsYu5wa?si=jo6-l1wiSrGmDkxyCA_cow

Portions of today’s episode were previously aired in a series on nationalism and religion produced by Michael Fox for PRI’s The World. You can find that, and more, at https://theworld.org/categories/sacred-nation

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