Court Jester

Theatrical. Short, impactful speeches, but devoid of proposals. Presidential pre-candidate Jair Bolsonaro amused the audience with prepared jokes during a question-and-answer session with representatives of national industry yesterday.

It is shocking that part of the audience at the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Brazil's industrial elite, has assumed the role of a stand-up comedy audience, offering ironic and funny remarks without considering the seriousness of the issues. If the Brazilian elections were a comedy, the applause of an audience entertained by the show would be normal.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Bolsonaro is the new puppet of the Brazilian elite. It is serious that a presidential candidate demonstrates such ignorance on crucial issues for the country, such as the economy and education. About to conclude his seventh term as a congressman, he said he still hasn't found time to study the basics of public finances: "I'm an army captain, an artilleryman, I didn't study economics. Do we have to understand everything?" He then went on to say that the economist Paulo Guedes, who supports him, is the one who answers questions on the subject.

The same strategy was used to avoid questions about education. "I don't want to talk about what I don't understand. Who is competent in everything? If we have to rely on our wives to manage a household, how much more so to manage a country," Bolsonaro emphasized. In this speech, he also demonstrated his well-known sexist stance, which offends the history of struggle of Brazilian women in defense of greater equality, respect, and emancipation.

Another extremely serious fact was the presidential candidate saying that he would side with the bosses in disputes with the workers, who make up the majority of the population. He guaranteed that he would enforce the will of the "masters," signaling that we could return almost to the time of slavery in Brazil. If elected, workers will have to choose between having "fewer rights and a job or all the rights and no job," Bolsonaro threatened.

The booing directed at fellow pre-candidate Ciro Gomes, who advocated for a review of the Labor Reform, also indicates the lack of civility and poverty of the Brazilian elite, which is showing itself to be backward, without perspective, and without a national project. It is absurd that a candidate is invited to a debate and cannot freely express his ideas, becoming the target of intolerance. It is worth highlighting that Ciro's view that there has been a precarization of the world of work is correct. He didn't say anything foolish.

The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) should be a meeting place for national intelligence to discuss how to address the country's main problems. It is shocking to realize that the hearing only revealed the intellectual poverty of an uncommitted elite, trying to find a new puppet for their puppet theater. Their only objective is to satisfy their economic interests at the expense of Brazilians and Brazil. The illegitimate president Michel Temer is the current puppet, presenting misguided public policies to fulfill this role. There have been others in national history.

The truth is that, in the October elections, the people will put an end to this situation and elect a candidate committed to a developed and socially just country for all. Manuela D'Ávila's pre-candidacy, presented by the PCdoB, is an excellent alternative for the country. Enough of these court jesters!!!