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New GIGA Focus Latin America | Mid-Term Elections: Brazil’s Far Right Battles for Bolsonaro’s Legacy

GIGA Focus | Latin America | Number 5 | October 2024 | ISSN 1862-3573.

As Brazil prepares for mid-term elections on 6 October 2024, far-right leaders are competing for leadership. All eyes are on São Paulo, where the right’s “old guard” candidate faces the rise of a young, extremist YouTuber. Polls show a three-way tie between these two and the socialist left-wing candidate, backed by President Lula. The result will be a harbinger for politics in post-Lula Brazil.

With 12 million people, São Paulo is more populous than many Latin American countries. In Brazil it serves as a microcosm of national politics, and leadership of the city is a key springboard for national ambitions.

The recent far-right resurgence confirms the eclipsing of traditional conservative parties over the past decade. The new far right is stronger, better connected via social media and evangelical churches, and finds support from the poorest to the richest alike.

Both candidates fighting for the extremist legacy in São Paulo have a military police officer as their running mate. They join the 6,600 candidates from the public security realm and armed forces running for office nationwide. Security remains a pressing issue mobilising voters. Across the political spectrum, security proposals are similar: expanding armed personnel.

Irrespective of their ideological differences, the three main candidates tied for office in São Paulo are all accused of colluding with organised crime. While some fear Brazil is becoming a mafia state, like other business groups, crime syndicates will seek to influence government decisions – in their case, in favour of illegal economies.

Policy Implications

There is an urgent need for better regulation of a) the use of social media, both in terms of campaigning and fundraising; b) of illegal markets to combat their political and social reach; and, c) of the dual role played by military and police officers between institutional politics and the security realm in order to ensure the security forces, as a state institution, remain politically neutral.

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OpenEdition le sugiere que cite este post de la siguiente manera:
REGARDS CNRS (1 de octubre de 2024). New GIGA Focus Latin America | Mid-Term Elections: Brazil’s Far Right Battles for Bolsonaro’s Legacy. Redial & Ceisal. Recuperado 10 de abril de 2026 de https://doi.org/10.58079/12eai


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