A government built on fake news cannot withstand the winds.

"Every nation gets the government it deserves." This old adage seems tailor-made for today's Brazil, whose president is the product of a surge in sentiment among a segment of the population that allowed itself to be manipulated by the flood of fake news disseminated on social media and believed it had voted for the savior of the nation. Many of these voters, regretful and ashamed, have already realized they were deceived, but lack the courage to admit that they have become co-responsible for the Bolsonaro disaster. In just over two months since taking office, the new government seems to be nearing the end of its term, without having presented a single proposal that suggests any benefit to the people or the country. On the contrary, all the measures announced so far, and some already in effect, only cause harm to the Nation and its people, including our sovereignty, such as the pension reform, the anti-crime package, the transfer of the embassy in Israel, the hostility towards China, the handing over of land issues to rural landowners, the donation of Embraer to Boeing, the handover of the Alcântara Space Base to the United States, etc., etc. To complete the picture of chaos, it should be noted that there are frequent crises provoked by the captain-president himself, which require the permanent intervention of the military to try to minimize the damage.

Unfortunately, however, things are much worse than they seem. The candidate who, during the election campaign, boasted about fighting corruption in his government and eliminating the practice of political appointments to positions based on quid pro quo deals, which certainly enthused his voters, is now behaving exactly like those he criticized, setting up a veritable marketplace of deals in the National Congress to approve his reforms. Even more serious, besides appointing individuals accused of illegal campaign financing and misappropriation of funds from the Party Fund to his cabinet, his senator son has emerged in the news as a suspect in connections with militias, among whom are allegedly those arrested this week accused of murdering councilwoman Marielle Franco of the PSOL party in Rio. If all these problems, which dominate national and international news, are not properly clarified – including the case of Fabrício Queiroz, former aide to then-deputy Flávio Bolsonaro, who moved suspiciously R$ 1 million – Bolsonaro, according to several predictions, will not remain in the Planalto Palace for long. After all, a government built on fake news is like a house built on sand: it cannot withstand strong winds for long.

All this, however, doesn't seem to shake the captain-president, who next week is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump, his idol and boss. On that occasion, he is expected to hand over to the arrogant and deranged ruler of the Northern empire what remains of Petrobras, after its destruction by Sergio Moro, José Serra, Michel Temer, and Pedro Parente, taking with it the Alcântara Space Base in Maranhão, without a peep from the Armed Forces or the governor and representatives of that state in the National Congress. In truth, after the handover of Embraer to the American Boeing, with the approval of the military, nothing is surprising anymore in this scandalous sell-out that has characterized our rulers since the coup that ousted President Dilma Rousseff. One gets the impression that they assumed power with the sole and exclusive objective of satisfying US projects of dominance in the South American continent, with almost irreparable damage to our sovereignty. And many ask themselves, perplexed: where are our nationalist military figures?

It is regrettable to observe that negative events have been piling up in our country since the beginning of the Bolsonaro government. The recent massacre of students in Suzano, São Paulo, although not directly related to the captain's government, seems to be a consequence of the hatred disseminated in the country by traditional media and social networks, and also by the PSL candidate himself, who, always brandishing imaginary weapons, elicited roars from the crowd every time he spoke of killing, especially PT supporters. After he took office, violence increased in the country, including femicides, because his followers probably believe they are right in sharing the president's ideas. With his hate speeches, he managed to awaken the worst instincts of weak-minded human beings, bringing out the monsters hidden in the unconscious of many seemingly normal people. Even so, despite the threat of increased violence with the liberalization of gun ownership, Bolsonaro announced a forthcoming decree easing gun carrying laws, contradicting the understanding of the majority regarding the dangers represented by the proliferation of weapons. Incredibly, Senator Major Olímpio, from the same party as the president, defended arming teachers and school staff. In his distorted view, if the teachers at the Suzano school had been armed, the massacre would not have happened. The opposition needs to move beyond rhetoric and urgently take to the streets to prevent such absurdities.