Brazil elected far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro to be its next president — but the decision has prompted concerns both within the country and outside.
Bolsonaro, 66, is a former congress member with a history of making divisive remarks.
The president-elect has built his popularity on a mixture of often outrageous or offensive comments and hardline positions. The remarks have earned him the nickname, “Trump of the Tropics.”
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Here is a look at some of those statements:
“I wouldn’t rape you because you don’t deserve it.”
While speaking to Brazilian congresswoman Maria do Rosario in 2014, Bolsonaro said that he would not sexually assault her because she was not worthy enough.
When Do Rosario again walked out of the national legislature upon hearing the comments, he said, “Stay here and listen.”
Bolsonaro later repeated his comments to the Zero Hora newspaper, adding that he was not a rapist but, if he were, he would not rape do Rosario because she is “ugly” and “not his type.”
Bolsonaro is slated to stand trial on charges of slander and incitation to rape for these comments.
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“I won’t fight against it nor discriminate, but if I see two men kissing each other on the street, I’ll beat them up.”
In May 2002, Bolsonaro threatened gay people after then-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso was seen in a photo holding a rainbow flag at an event in support of gay marriage.
This is just one homophobic comment he has made over the years.
He said in an interview with Playboy magazine in December 2011 that he “would be incapable of loving a homosexual son.”
“The Congress today is useless … let’s do the coup already. Let’s go straight to the dictatorship.”
In 1999, Bolsonaro said the country’s congress “doesn’t work” and that if he was elected president he would perform a coup the same day. He said he favours dictatorships over democracies.
He also added in the 1999 interview that elections don’t change anything and only civil wars are effective.
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“Unfortunately, it will only change on the day that we break out in civil war here and do the job that the military regime didn’t do: killing 30,000. If some innocent people die, that’s fine. In every war, innocent people die.”
“I have five children. Four are men, and then in a moment of weakness the fifth came out a girl.”
In a speech at Rio de Janeiro’s Hebraica Club in April 2017, Bolsonaro spoke about his family.
Bolsonaro’s promises
Beyond these comments raising concerns, Bolsonaro’s campaign promises have also raised questions.
The president-elect has said he will re-institute the death penalty, empower police to kill suspects, tear up environmental regulations and rescue the country from political corruption through a military-inspired approach to governing.
READ MORE: Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Brazil’s presidential election
“We cannot continue flirting with socialism, communism, populism and leftist extremism,” Bolsonaro said in his acceptance speech. “We are going to change the destiny of Brazil.”
Bolsonaro will take over as president of South America’s most populous country on Jan. 1.
— With files from The Associated Press
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