She calls him ‘little father Bolsonaro’. Francimar has been a staunch supporter of Brazil’s far-right president for several months. In the living room of her modest house in Jucurutu, a town in the poor north-east of the country, she says that she never voted for him. “I was PT, supporter of the left-wing Workers’ Party PT. “
This part of Brazil is the territory of the charismatic former president of the Workers’ Party, Lula. He is still a hero to most people here, even though he was convicted of corruption.
More than three-quarters of the population of Jucurutu voted for the candidate of Lula’s party in the last elections in 2018. Jair Bolsonaro didn’t stand a chance here. The corona pandemic, in particular, seems to change that.
About 100 euros
“Now I am for Bolsonaro”, beams Francimar. She is one of approximately 65 million Brazilians who have received emergency aid. Most of them received 600 real in recent months, about a hundred euros per month. “That’s a fortune here,” says Francimar.
She has no steady job and scrambles for a living with cleaning, casual chores and as a laundress. “Before the pandemic, I was earning around 65 euros a month.” Thanks to the emergency aid, she was able to pay off debts in recent months and she was no longer worried about fixed costs.
Francimar thanks Bolsonaro for the extra income and dismisses criticism of him. “I will vote for Bolsonaro in the next election.”
From 29 to 40 percent
The president is rising in the polls. 40 percent of Brazilians surveyed rated their government as good or very good last month, a sharp increase since the last comparable poll in December last year. Then Bolsonaro came in at just 29 percent.
At first, the pandemic seemed to be disastrous for Bolsonaro’s popularity. The death toll from the virus in Brazil is currently almost 155,000. Only in the United States were more corona deaths.
From the start, Bolsonaro hardly seemed to take corona seriously. He likened the virus to a flu, ignored corona regulations and opposed quarantine measures. But many Brazilians don’t blame him.
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