--- title: Brazil Is Suffering a Wave of Violence. It’s Bolsonaro’s Fault description: Bolsonaro's rhetoric has fueled a culture of political violence, weeks ahead of an election that will be a key test for Brazilian democracy. canonical: https://time.com/6214070/bolsonaro-political-violence-brazil-election/ author: Guilherme Boulos article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-09-16T16:56:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:10.566Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Brazil Is Suffering a Wave of Violence. It’s Bolsonaro’s Fault og:description: Bolsonaro's rhetoric has fueled a culture of political violence, ahead crucial elections in October. og:url: https://time.com/6214070/bolsonaro-political-violence-brazil-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37ac11078714bf65/698a357a86f68e23b86f19d0/GettyImages-1229683227.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: BRAZIL-GOVERNMENT-BOLSONARO-FLAG DAY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Brazil Is Suffering a Wave of Violence. It’s Bolsonaro’s Fault twitter:description: Bolsonaro's rhetoric has fueled a culture of political violence, ahead crucial elections in October. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37ac11078714bf65/698a357a86f68e23b86f19d0/GettyImages-1229683227.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Armed Bolsonaro Supporters Are Threatening Their Opponents. I Was One of Them > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Jan. 6 Panel Airs Outtakes of Trump Jan. 7 Speech [Watch (HLS stream): Jan. 6 Panel Airs Outtakes of Trump Jan. 7 Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TFltPnKP.m3u8) (2:48)  _Published 2022-07-22. The House committee investigating the Capitol riot has shown never-before-seen outtakes from a speech prepared for then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 7, 2021, in which he was supposed to say that the election he lost to Joe Biden was over. But Trump is seen in the video as bristling at that line - that the 2020 election was in fact decided and over._ by [Guilherme Boulos](https://time.com/author/guilherme-boulos/) ## Guilherme Boulos Sep 16, 2022 4:56 PM UTC  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attends the National Flag Day celebration at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on Nov. 19, 2020 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attends the National Flag Day celebration at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on Nov. 19, 2020Evaristo Sa—AFP via Getty Images by [Guilherme Boulos](https://time.com/author/guilherme-boulos/) ## Guilherme Boulos Sep 16, 2022 4:56 PM UTC On Sept. 9, a rural worker was fatally stabbed during a political discussion with a supporter of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right President, in the midwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. A little over a month ago, in the southern state of Paraná, an armed _bolsonarista_ invaded a children’s birthday party and executed the child’s father in front of his entire family. The images of the crime, recorded by a security camera, shocked the country. There are also cases where violence was only avoided by luck, or a lack of opportunity. A few days ago, while campaigning in the street, myself and my colleague Ediane Maria of the Socialism and Liberty Party, were threatened by an armed man who declared himself a Bolsonaro supporter when we passed him a pamphlet from our election campaign. The incident took place in São Bernardo do Campo, a city in the state of São Paulo, and is already under investigation by the Public Electoral Ministry. These episodes, scattered across Brazil, are nothing new: they are just the latest in an extensive list of acts of political violence engendered by President Bolsonaro and his aggressive rhetoric toward those who disagree with him. Long before reaching the presidency, Bolsonaro was already known in Brazil for his right-wing positions and for his ideological alignment with the military dictatorship installed by the 1964 coup that ousted the left-wing João Goulart, and which was backed by the U.S. government. Defending the shooting of left-wing opponents on the campaign trail in 2018 and saying in 2014 he “wouldn’t rape” a female colleague “because she didn’t deserve it” are just a couple examples that illustrate the authoritarian personality of Bolsonaro, an ex-soldier. Aware of this history, Brazil’s economic elite still chose to back Bolsonaro in the 2018 elections, supporting the fraudulent arrest that year of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that would bar him from the race. In doing so, they cleared the path for the election of a man that they thought they could control over the next four years. **Read More:** [_Lula Interview on Exile and His Bid for Brazilian Presidency_](https://time.com/6172611/brazil-president-lula-interview/) But since arriving in the Palácio do Planalto, Bolsonaro has only become more brazen in his authoritarian overreach. His aggressive and irresponsible speeches have escalated a climate of violence and encouraged millions of supporters across Brazil to violently confront those who disagree with them. In this climate, Lula, who has since been acquitted of the corruption charges and is Bolsonaro’s main rival in the upcoming October general elections, recently had to reinforce his security detail with snipers for a campaign rally, after identifying _bolsonarista_ threats. After four years of attacks on our institutions and values, it doesn’t seem surprising that Bolsonaro now threatens Brazilian democracy itself. In this, he is the image of his idol, former U.S. President Donald Trump. More than just an inspiration, Trump is the ideological north star of Bolsonaro’s political movement. Bolsonaro has repeatedly questioned the reliability of our internationally praised electronic voting machines, and said that he will only accept the result of the elections if they are “clean”; in other words, if he wins. --- ### More from TIME --- Unlike Trump, however, Bolsonaro commands backing from some sectors of the military, many members of which serve in the President’s administration. Few people still minimize the risk of a Bolsonaro coup, though some still believe his worrying statements are just a big bluff. I fear that Bolsonaro, once he is defeated at the ballot box as polls expect, will seek to rupture our democracy—and resort to violence to do so. The whole question is whether he will have enough support to carry it out. Today, by all indications, he wouldn’t. But that should not make us underestimate the risk. In recent weeks, Bolsonaro’s allies in the Armed Forces have managed to force the Superior Electoral Court to allow them to do a “parallel inspection” of the electoral process, opening the door for them to question, within a weakened institutional framework, a vote against the President on Oct 2\. At the same time, Bolsonaro and his sons are doubling down on his strategy. They have [intensified their links](https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2021-04-24/a-ligacao-do-cla-bolsonaro-com-paramilitares-e-milicianos-se-estreitou-com-a-eleicao-de-flavio.html) with criminal militias, according to Brazilian newspapers. (Bolsonaro denies any ties to militia groups.) And they have also called on the President’s supporters [to arm themselves](https://veja.abril.com.br/coluna/radar/bolsonaro-convoca-apoiadores-a-defender-armamento-arma-e-liberdade/), to unite in the streets and resist defeat in a vote that Bolsonaro has tried to sow doubt over. **Read More:** [_What To Know About Brazil’s Crucial Election_](https://time.com/6213751/brazil-election-lula-bolsonaro-2022/) If that happens, there is one thing that can ensure democracy and prevent violence: social mobilization in the streets. We would have to lead and redouble peaceful protests until Bolsonaro leaves the presidential palace. The streets are also key, at this moment, to increasing Lula’s margin of victory that will make it harder for Bolsonaro to spread lies about the legitimacy of the vote. By talking face to face with undecided voters, we will fight for victory—victory for a democratic and anti-fascist country, where differences are resolved through dialogue and not with bullets. Only then will we put Brazil back on a path of democracy and social justice. Only then will the Amazon and our biodiversity be safe from the ravages of deforestation. Only then will Brazil be respected and admired on the international scene again. There are only a couple weeks left for the most important elections in our country yet. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6214070/bolsonaro-political-violence-brazil-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6214070/bolsonaro-political-violence-brazil-election/"},"headline":"Armed Bolsonaro Supporters Are Threatening Their Opponents. 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