A year of Jair Bolsonaro

WHEN JAIR BOLSONARO took office as Brazil’s president on January 1st 2019, many observers feared the worst. The former army captain had made his name by extolling the military dictators who ruled from 1964 to 1985 and by disparaging women and gays. He won the election because voters were traumatised by the country’s worst-ever recession, from 2014 to 2016, by crime and by revelations of corruption at the highest levels of politics and business. They hoped that Mr Bolsonaro would restore prosperity, peace and probity to Brazil.After his first year in office they have some of what they wanted. The economy has improved, and violent crime has fallen. Yet Mr Bolsonaro has not put to rest the doubts raised by his unlikely rise to power. The provocateur has not become a statesman. Instead of strengthening Brazil’s democratic institutions, he is testing them. When it comes to corruption and the environment, Brazil is either stuck or going backwards.