Summary

The surprise victory of Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential elections of October 2018 was viewed as a godsend by Brazilian investors. Here was a figure who was committed to deregulation, privatization, corruption fighting, and economic growth at all costs. And even better, his triumph came at the cost of the Workers’ Party which had played the part of Bogeyman for the business community since Lula da Silva was first elected in 2003.

There was only hitch: despite a long tenure in Congress, Bolsonaro had no background in crafting effective legislation or building a consensus behind it.

Turns out that’s actually a problem when governing a diverse country of over 200 million people, or at least this is what growing disillusionment with the president’s early rule would seem to suggest.