Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, of the right-wing Social Liberal Party, arrives for a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 11, 2018 (AP photo by Leo Correa).

In the first round of their country’s most tumultuous presidential election in recent history, Brazilians voted overwhelmingly for far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro, who fell just short of winning outright. The clear favorite heading into the runoff later this month, the former army captain has run a defiant and deeply divisive campaign—attacking women, racial minorities and LGBT rights, and romanticizing Brazil’s Cold War-era military regime. The stakes of this election are of course high for Brazilians, who are dealing with a years-long economic and political crisis that has crippled the country, on top of rising crime. But migrants fleeing the dictatorship […]

Presidential frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro leaves a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 7, 2018 (AP photo by Leo Correa).

Ahead of Brazil’s elections last Sunday, the far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro was widely expected to finish first in a crowded field. With more than a dozen people running for the presidency, however, few thought he would come as close as he did to winning an outright majority in the first round. The final tally gave the controversial former army captain 46 percent of the vote, setting the stage for a runoff on Oct. 28 against Fernando Haddad of the leftist Workers’ Party, whose preferred candidate, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is in prison and was barred from […]