The politics of abuse

The politics of mistreatment frames the political crisis in Brazil and sets off alarm bells in countries like Mexico and the United States towards 2024.

The polarization with which politicians capitalize on their projects has become the icon of the mistreatment to which citizens are subjected. Because it is an act of violence that opens wounds, ignites hatred towards the opposite, and replaces proposals with attacks.

The social air becomes toxic, the lungs black, and life is given to that type of cancer that chemo does not cure. That is why it is so important to take note of what is happening in Brazil.

As in the case of the South American country, the societies of the North American neighbors will arrive polarized, sharing historical moments of ignorance of electoral results and with opposing projects that refuse to die in battle.

Because just as Bolsonarismo is showing that it does not like to lose. Trumpism and the obradorismo have shown that neither.

It seems that the days when the United States “exported democracy” are long gone. We could even say that perhaps after doing so much they have run out and that whatever they now export has found an ideal market in Brazil. However, it should not be ruled out that they could also have imported this from elsewhere.

US politics seems to have become Latin American and the latter makes the North lose itself in a global and, above all, a regional moment, in which liberal democracy seems to be in trouble.

In the few weeks that have elapsed since Lula da Silva took office, Brazil has shown us that the politics of mistreatment are capable of trumping economic problems.

The assault on the political heart of the country is followed by a video published by Bolsonaro on social networks in which he is unaware of Lula’s triumph, arguing that “he was not elected by the people” nor did he win at the polls, but was handpicked by the Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court. In this way, he injected life into the “truth” of many and “the lie of others” that encourages mistreatment and this leads us to the similarities with the United States.

Because in the same way that 40% of Brazilians believe that fraud was committed in the last presidential election, according to data from Atlas Intel, 40% of Americans continue to believe that the 2020 election was stolen, just as shows a survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek in November 2022. Thus maintaining distrust of the electoral system and opening the door to the politics of mistreatment towards 2024.

In fact, a survey carried out last year by the Pew Research Center shows that only 41% of Americans are satisfied with their democracy and this brings them closer to Mexico beyond the border. Because a study carried out by Latinobarómetro in 2021 shows that only 43% of Mexicans support democracy.

The next elections in our country will be crucial to reinforce or annul the course that was decided to take in 2018 and mistreatment promises to be present. Above all, if the mistreatment of the opposite ensures the monopoly of the truth. However, the question we should ask ourselves is whether democracy also has it.

Only cowards mistreat.

The last one out, turn off the light.

Twitter: @HenaroStephanie