Jair Bolsonaro Fast Facts: In His First 100 Days As Brazil’s President, We Got More Questions Than Answers
As Brazilians enter the second week of their presidency, Jair Bolsonaro’s first 100 days have exposed more problems than solutions. On Wednesday, the president-elect made his first trip to the US as president-elect. Here’s what we learned on Day 1.
The election of Trump in the US
No election in history has had more consequences for Latin America on a continent-wide level than Trump’s surprise win in the US last November. While he won a majority in the Electoral College—50.4 percent of the votes—his defeat was so pronounced that some Brazilian observers even spoke of a “Trump effect” across Latin America.
The result of Trump’s election in Brazil
It’s now time to look at the consequences for Brazil after the election of Trump.
The election of Trump has had an impact on Brazil. The US has always had a significant economic relationship with Latin America. The relationship between Brazil and the US started in the 19th century through the Monroe Doctrine that prevented the two countries from engaging in war. The two countries have maintained a close economic relationship over time through trade and investment, particularly after the end of the Cold War. That was one of the reasons that Trump’s election had such a negative effect on the countries around the world.
But it was also clear that Trump’s election had an impact also on Latin America’s economy, where it was expected that a new leader in the White House would take the same approach to the US that he had taken against Latin America in general: a strong protectionist approach in trade and economic policy that would increase uncertainty in the international economy. His campaign called for the US to return to the days when trade policies were based on protectionism and a neoliberal approach, based on free markets. His presidency will certainly not be based on free markets.
The Trump effect
The effect of Trump’s