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BRAZIL-VOTE-ECONOMY
Brazil: Latin America’s limping giant
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – It wasn’t so long ago that Brazil
was a glittering, rising power on the world stage, courted by investors and
staking its place as a regional powerhouse.
Now, it’s still a significant player — the world’s 8th-biggest economy,
Latin America’s largest democracy — but Brazil is limping along, its 210
million citizens yearning for better days as they grapple with post-recession
blues, crime and corruption.
That makes for a febrile context going into Sunday’s presidential and
general election.
A far-right law-and-order candidate promising an economic overhaul, Jair
Bolsonaro, is leading a pack of 13 candidates aiming for the top job. A
leftwinger, Fernando Haddad, scooping up support from jailed former president
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is his closest rival.
– Economic might — and plight –
Brazil’s $2 trillion economy is struggling after a 2014-2016 recession that
was its worst on record. The government forecasts just 1.6 percent growth
this year, after 1 percent last year.
The Brazilian real has declined around 17 percent this year against the
dollar, while unemployment is 12 percent and inflation is rising. Crime,
always a problem in Brazil, has increased, and nearly 64,000 murders were
counted in 2017.
The situation leaves the country barely remembering its heyday of a decade
ago, back when it earned investor-grade status, talked up offshore oil
deposits, lifted millions out of poverty, and won the right to host the 2016
Olympic Games in Rio.
Bolsonaro’s promise to cut Brazil’s climbing debt through privatizations
and slashing the public workforce has encouraged businesses, far more than
the spendthrift vows of Haddad.
– A little history –
Under Portuguese control from the 16th century to independence in 1822, the
country has a slavery past that ended in 1888. Today, more than half the
population has at least some African blood, though fewer than one in 10
identify as black.
A military dictatorship ruled from 1964 to 1985, with democratic elections
returning in 1989.
Long dismissed as a Latin American country that fell short of its
potential, Brazil was seen entering the big league under the leftist
presidency of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva between 2003 and 2010. It benefited
greatly from selling natural resources and farm products, especially to its
main trading partner China.
After hitting his term limit, the popular Lula successfully helped secure
the election of his protegee Dilma Rousseff, but she ended up being impeached
in 2016 for financial wrongdoing and her vice president, Michel Temer, became
head of state. By then, the country was deep in its crippling recession.
At the same time, a sweeping graft probe called “Lava Jato” (Car Wash)
started in 2014 came to a head, ensnaring politicians from nearly every party
in corruption allegations mainly linked to state-owned oil company Petrobras.
Lula ended up being arrested and from April 2018 started serving a 12-year
prison term for bribery that disqualified him from a bid to try to win back
the presidency.
Brazil ranks 96th on a global ranking of perception of corruption put out
by the watchdog group Transparency International.
– Football and carnival –
Brazil is the only country to have won football’s World Cup five times
(1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) and has produced legends of the game such as
Pele, Ronaldo and Neymar.
It is also renowned for its abundance of musical styles, from samba to funk
and bossa nova.
The annual Rio carnival of dancers and outsized floats is said to be the
biggest in the world, with about six million people, including some 1.5
million tourists, taking part in February this year.
– The election –
Sunday’s election is to whittle down the presidential race to the two top
candidates, who will face off in a second round on October 28 if, as
expected, the frontrunner doesn’t win more than 50 percent of the vote. The
presidential term is for four years.
The election will also choose new federal and state legislatures as well as
state governors.
The electorate counts 147,306,275 voters. Those aged 18 to 70 are required
by law to turn up at polling stations or face a fine equivalent to just under
$1. Ballots are cast electronically, with voters punching in numbers
corresponding to their chosen candidates.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0838 HRS