SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Jair Bolsonaro gestures after casting his vote during general elections on October 28, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
After Win by Brazilian Fascist Jair Bolsonaro, World's Capitalists Salivate Over 'New Investment Opportunities'
"Capitalism only asks whether fascism is profitable."
Oct 29, 2018
As Brazilian women, the LGBTQ community, workers, and people of color reacted with horror to the election of fascist Jair Bolsonaro to the presidency on Sunday after a campaign dripping in bigotry and militarism, Western corporate interests and the business press could hardly contain their glee over the victory of the hard-right former paratrooper who has promised to further pry open Brazilian markets to foreign investment, slash corporate taxes, and privatize the nation's public services.
"Big business sees the victory of Brazilian fascism as a massive investment opportunity."
--Owen Jones, The Guardian
While highlighting Bolsonaro's "homophobic, racist, and misogynist statements," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) gushed that his win over Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad "could mean fresh opportunities for Canadian companies looking to invest in the resource-rich country" thanks to his strong commitment to "open markets."
"It could be a good time to be a mining investor in Brazil," declared Anna Prusa, a former U.S. State Department official who researches Brazil for the Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based firm.
Canadian business interests are hardly the only ones well-positioned to profit immensely from Bolsonaro's iron-fisted regime.
As The Intercept reported last week, American business elites were positively giddy at the prospect of a Bolsonaro victory, which one executive said would be a "bullish opportunity for us."
Enthused by Bolsonaro's selection of right-wing University of Chicago-trained financier Paulo Guedes to craft his economic agenda, investors are "more than happy to overlook the authoritarian impulses and violent promises," The Intercept's Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani note.
"Guedes has promised to sell off state assets, cut the public pension system, revise the tax code, and deregulate the economy," Fang and Jilani reported. "Another Bolsonaro adviser, Nabhan Garcia, told Reuters that the administration would slash fines for farmers who violate environmental rules in sensitive areas like the Amazon."
Corporate excitement over Bolsonaro's ascent to power--made possible in large part by the imprisonment of Brazil's former president and most popular politician, Lula da Silva, on corruption charges that have been denounced as highly questionable--began when the far-right lawmaker prevailed in the first round of elections earlier this month.
"Brazil stocks outshined the rest of the world" ahead of Sunday's election, CNBC reported.
Following Bolsonaro's 10-point victory, stocks continued to skyrocket as investors cheered the rise of an authoritarian who has promised to gut the public sector and "give carte blanche for the police to kill."
"Jair Bolsonaro said the words investors wanted to hear," Bloomberg reported on Monday. "Brazil's next president pledged to trim the deficit, pay down debt and reduce the size of government after results showed him cruising to victory over Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers' Party. That helped Brazilian assets extend gains Monday, with the currency adding as much as 1.5 percent and Ibovespa stock futures climbing 4 percent in early trading. An American depository receipt of state-controlled oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA jumped 7.1 percent in pre-market hours."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As Brazilian women, the LGBTQ community, workers, and people of color reacted with horror to the election of fascist Jair Bolsonaro to the presidency on Sunday after a campaign dripping in bigotry and militarism, Western corporate interests and the business press could hardly contain their glee over the victory of the hard-right former paratrooper who has promised to further pry open Brazilian markets to foreign investment, slash corporate taxes, and privatize the nation's public services.
"Big business sees the victory of Brazilian fascism as a massive investment opportunity."
--Owen Jones, The Guardian
While highlighting Bolsonaro's "homophobic, racist, and misogynist statements," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) gushed that his win over Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad "could mean fresh opportunities for Canadian companies looking to invest in the resource-rich country" thanks to his strong commitment to "open markets."
"It could be a good time to be a mining investor in Brazil," declared Anna Prusa, a former U.S. State Department official who researches Brazil for the Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based firm.
Canadian business interests are hardly the only ones well-positioned to profit immensely from Bolsonaro's iron-fisted regime.
As The Intercept reported last week, American business elites were positively giddy at the prospect of a Bolsonaro victory, which one executive said would be a "bullish opportunity for us."
Enthused by Bolsonaro's selection of right-wing University of Chicago-trained financier Paulo Guedes to craft his economic agenda, investors are "more than happy to overlook the authoritarian impulses and violent promises," The Intercept's Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani note.
"Guedes has promised to sell off state assets, cut the public pension system, revise the tax code, and deregulate the economy," Fang and Jilani reported. "Another Bolsonaro adviser, Nabhan Garcia, told Reuters that the administration would slash fines for farmers who violate environmental rules in sensitive areas like the Amazon."
Corporate excitement over Bolsonaro's ascent to power--made possible in large part by the imprisonment of Brazil's former president and most popular politician, Lula da Silva, on corruption charges that have been denounced as highly questionable--began when the far-right lawmaker prevailed in the first round of elections earlier this month.
"Brazil stocks outshined the rest of the world" ahead of Sunday's election, CNBC reported.
Following Bolsonaro's 10-point victory, stocks continued to skyrocket as investors cheered the rise of an authoritarian who has promised to gut the public sector and "give carte blanche for the police to kill."
"Jair Bolsonaro said the words investors wanted to hear," Bloomberg reported on Monday. "Brazil's next president pledged to trim the deficit, pay down debt and reduce the size of government after results showed him cruising to victory over Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers' Party. That helped Brazilian assets extend gains Monday, with the currency adding as much as 1.5 percent and Ibovespa stock futures climbing 4 percent in early trading. An American depository receipt of state-controlled oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA jumped 7.1 percent in pre-market hours."
As Brazilian women, the LGBTQ community, workers, and people of color reacted with horror to the election of fascist Jair Bolsonaro to the presidency on Sunday after a campaign dripping in bigotry and militarism, Western corporate interests and the business press could hardly contain their glee over the victory of the hard-right former paratrooper who has promised to further pry open Brazilian markets to foreign investment, slash corporate taxes, and privatize the nation's public services.
"Big business sees the victory of Brazilian fascism as a massive investment opportunity."
--Owen Jones, The Guardian
While highlighting Bolsonaro's "homophobic, racist, and misogynist statements," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) gushed that his win over Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad "could mean fresh opportunities for Canadian companies looking to invest in the resource-rich country" thanks to his strong commitment to "open markets."
"It could be a good time to be a mining investor in Brazil," declared Anna Prusa, a former U.S. State Department official who researches Brazil for the Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based firm.
Canadian business interests are hardly the only ones well-positioned to profit immensely from Bolsonaro's iron-fisted regime.
As The Intercept reported last week, American business elites were positively giddy at the prospect of a Bolsonaro victory, which one executive said would be a "bullish opportunity for us."
Enthused by Bolsonaro's selection of right-wing University of Chicago-trained financier Paulo Guedes to craft his economic agenda, investors are "more than happy to overlook the authoritarian impulses and violent promises," The Intercept's Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani note.
"Guedes has promised to sell off state assets, cut the public pension system, revise the tax code, and deregulate the economy," Fang and Jilani reported. "Another Bolsonaro adviser, Nabhan Garcia, told Reuters that the administration would slash fines for farmers who violate environmental rules in sensitive areas like the Amazon."
Corporate excitement over Bolsonaro's ascent to power--made possible in large part by the imprisonment of Brazil's former president and most popular politician, Lula da Silva, on corruption charges that have been denounced as highly questionable--began when the far-right lawmaker prevailed in the first round of elections earlier this month.
"Brazil stocks outshined the rest of the world" ahead of Sunday's election, CNBC reported.
Following Bolsonaro's 10-point victory, stocks continued to skyrocket as investors cheered the rise of an authoritarian who has promised to gut the public sector and "give carte blanche for the police to kill."
"Jair Bolsonaro said the words investors wanted to hear," Bloomberg reported on Monday. "Brazil's next president pledged to trim the deficit, pay down debt and reduce the size of government after results showed him cruising to victory over Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers' Party. That helped Brazilian assets extend gains Monday, with the currency adding as much as 1.5 percent and Ibovespa stock futures climbing 4 percent in early trading. An American depository receipt of state-controlled oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA jumped 7.1 percent in pre-market hours."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.