An Appetite for Change

The world is becoming more politically volatile and nowhere is this appetite for change more evident than in Brazil. Comparisons between the incoming president and President Trump have abounded, earning Jair Bolsonaro the moniker "the Trump of the tropics." He is, like Trump, an avid social media user, publicly feuds with mainstream media outlets he calls "fake news," and has cultivated an enthusiastic following among Brazil's social and religious conservatives.

But unlike Trump, Bolsonaro is a seasoned political figure. He is Brazil’s fifth elected president since Brazil returned to democracy after the 1964-85 military dictatorship that he himself once praised and is now running a country of 200 million suffering from prolonged economic malaise, rising insecurity and a massive corruption scandal that rocked its institutions.