Since taking office in January, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has weaponized the fear of widespread crime, and tapped into the country’s anger with the rampant corruption. The former army captain has given the police carte blanche to fight violence with violence. But his policy of “the only good criminal is a dead criminal” has also taken the lives of innocents in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.
GroundTruth Fellow Letícia Duarte walked with the victims of police violence through the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the places where their loved ones were gunned down. She traveled to Virginia, to the home of Olavo de Carvalho, the “Steve Bannon” of Brazil, whose ideas helped Bolsonaro become president. Streaming from his home office, he commands an online army of trolls who intimidate anyone who raises their voice against the government policies.
Explore the backstreets of Rio’s favelas
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Follow the entire series
- Overview
- Episode 1: Weaponize Fear – Brazil
- Dispatch: Meet the intellectual founder of Brazil’s far right
- Episode 2: Target Outsiders – Italy
- Dispatch: Europe’s ‘identitarians’ insist they aren’t part of the far right
- Episode 3: Undermine Institutions – Colombia
- Dispatch: The Slow Death of Colombia’s Peace Movement
- Episode 4: Rewrite History – Hungary
- Dispatch: Europe’s failure to protect liberty in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary
- Episode 5: Exploit Religion – India
- Dispatch: Not everyone has a vote in the world’s largest democracy
- Episode 6: Divide and Conquer – Poland
- Dispatch: Poland’s Law and Justice Party mixes victimhood and strength in its messaging
- Episode 7: Erode Truth – United States
- Dispatch: How Trump sells his war on truth
