Brazil Enters New Era With Far-right President-elect

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published October 30, 2018 | 10:59 AM

Brazil entered a new era Monday after electing its next president, Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who vowed a fundamental change in direction for the giant Latin American country

Rio de Janeiro, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2018 ) :Brazil entered a new era Monday after electing its next president, Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who vowed a fundamental change in direction for the giant Latin American country.

Bolsonaro, who openly admires Brazil's former military dictatorship and shocked many with his derogatory remarks on women, gays and blacks, won 55 percent of the vote in a run-off election Sunday -- more than 10 points ahead of leftist opponent Fernando Haddad.

Having channeled voters' anger with corruption, crime and economic malaise, the man dubbed the "Tropical Trump" will now get down to work seeking to "change Brazil's destiny" -- the promise he made in his victory speech.

Markets reacted positively to the win by the business-world favorite, who will take office on January 1 -- though profit-taking set in later in the day.

The Sao Paulo stock exchange's main index opened up more than three percent, after adding 10 percent in a month as Bolsonaro surged in the polls, before falling 2.

24 percent into the red at the close.

The Brazilian real hit its strongest in six months against the Dollar, then retreated slightly.

After a deeply polarizing election, many Brazilians seem eager to turn the page, hoping for the best as the country takes what even many Bolsonaro supporters acknowledge is a leap into the unknown.

"Maybe now, with this renewal, things will improve in this country," Bolsonaro voter Jocemil Clacino, a 66-year-old shopkeeper in Rio de Janeiro, told AFP.

For Bolsonaro's opponents, however, the bitterness runs deep.

"These elections revealed the worst in humanity. People let out everything they had been too afraid to talk about. It made me feel terrible. But we'll have to carry on," said Adriana Calvi, 55.