After win by Brazilian fascist Jair Bolsonaro, world's capitalists salivate over 'new investment opportunities'
"Capitalism
only asks whether fascism is profitable."
by
Jake Johnson
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.
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."
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