Tereza: base electoral pragmatism leads businessmen to applaud Bolsonaro.
"Only the most base electoral pragmatism could lead well-educated and informed industrial businessmen to enthusiastically applaud a candidate who confesses his vast ignorance and presents no proposals," assesses the journalist, for whom "just as in 1989, the elite seems to be making a pragmatic move."
247 - According to journalist Tereza Cruvinel, "only the most base electoral pragmatism could lead well-educated and informed businesspeople in the industry to enthusiastically applaud a candidate who confesses his vast ignorance and presents no proposals."
"Bolsonaro is a troglodyte, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic, a defender of torture and dictatorship. He confesses his ignorance of economics and his poor understanding of national problems," she recalls in her column in Jornal do Brasil. For her, "just as in 1989, the elite seems to be making a pragmatic move."
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Embracing Bolsonaro
In the 1989 election, there was no talk of this hidden god called the market. Those who represented the economic Olympus were the "businessmen." And these, initially, avoided explicitly supporting Fernando Collor de Melo, although they saw in him someone who could prevent the election of Brizola or Lula, ghosts of the left. Collor was useful, but he had his drawbacks.
Until, at some point, the verb "to colorize" emerged. And saying that "so-and-so colored" ceased to have a negative connotation, coming to mean a natural and even daring choice. Something similar may be happening right now with regard to pre-candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who was applauded ten times the day before yesterday by business leaders at the CNI (National Confederation of Industry), without presenting a single proposal for Brazil's crises.
Yesterday, the Infomoney agency released a survey by the consulting firm XP showing the market's increasing bets on Bolsonaro. According to the survey, conducted among investors between the 2nd and 3rd of this month, 49% believe he will be the next president of Brazil. This figure was only 26% in April. The captain was already in second place, but the biggest bet (48%) was still on the election of Geraldo Alckmin, a belief that now only excites 26% in this group.
In June, 45% of investors surveyed believed the second round would be between Bolsonaro and Ciro Gomes. Now, the pair they are betting on most is Bolsonaro and Marina (32%), followed by Bolsonaro and Alckmin (21%) and Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad (16%). It's almost certain that one of the second-round spots will go to Bolsonaro, with the other still up for grabs. But betting on his victory today doesn't seem to stem from analysis, but from wishful thinking, faith, or something more than that.
As neither the PSDB candidate nor the other center-right candidates gained traction, the hypothesis that the second spot in the runoff election will go to the left (either the PT candidate or Ciro Gomes) gained strength. Faced with this, the economic elite (including investors and productive businesspeople) seems to be leaning towards embracing the far-right candidate. Not because of what he says, since he only makes ideological jokes, but because of what they hear from his economic advisor, Paulo Guedes. To Bolsonaro, it's enough to say that he agrees with the economist on everything.
Just like in 1989, the elite seems to be making a pragmatic move. Bolsonaro is a troglodyte, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic, a defender of torture and dictatorship. He confesses his ignorance of economics and his poor understanding of national problems. "I don't like to talk about subjects I don't understand," he said several times at the CNI (National Confederation of Industry). But so what? They may be calling themselves the masters of the market and production. If he wins and does what is necessary, monitored by Guedes, he's the one we're going with. And we have to start treating this with normalcy.
The applause at the CNI event was preceded by a meeting between Bolsonaro and GDP heavyweights on Tuesday. Organized by businessman Abílio Diniz, it brought together names such as Cândido Bracher (Itaú), David Feffer (Suzano), José Roberto Ermírio de Morais (Votorantim), Marcelo Martins (Cosan), among others. There, too, the candidate made generic promises, such as cutting public spending, privatizing, and reducing taxes, without detailing them and without providing a recipe for the parliamentary majority.
Only the most base electoral pragmatism could lead well-educated and informed industrial businessmen to enthusiastically applaud a candidate who confesses his vast ignorance and presents no proposals. Ciro Gomes was rudely booed for saying that, if elected, and lacking imperial powers, he would indeed propose to Congress a review of the most brutal aspects of the labor reform. Bolsonaro, on the other hand, said that in his government workers will have to accept fewer rights to have a job, and that must have sounded like music to his ears. In 1989, Collor promised to kill inflation with a single shot. The shot hit the economy itself, which went into recession. Pragmatism, like shrewdness, when excessive, can swallow its owner.