Democracy and freedom of expression are under threat in Brazil

Brazil’s democratic institutions are under attack. Since taking office, the Jair Bolsonaro administration, helped by its allies on the far right, has systematically undermined cultural, scientific and educational institutions in the country, as well as the press. 

Early on, prominent members of Bolsonaro’s political party started a campaign to encourage university and high school students to covertly film their teachers and denounce them for “ideological indoctrination”. This persecution campaign, ominously called “School Without Party”, created a sense of intimidation and fear in educational institutions in a country barely three decades out of an oppressive military regime. Last month, Bolsonaro suggested that the state should censor textbooks to promote conservative values.


The Bolsonaro administration has made it clear it will not tolerate deviation from its ultra-conservative politics and worldview. Last year the administration fired the marketing director of Banco do Brasil, Delano Valentim, for creating an ad campaign promoting diversity and inclusion, which was then censored by the government. Later that year, as Brazil’s Amazon forest burned at an alarming rate, Bolsonaro’s administration retaliated against scientists who dared to present facts. Ricardo Galvão, the former director of Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), was removed from his post for releasing satellite data on deforestation in the Amazon....
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/07/democracy-and-freedom-of-expression-are-under-threat-in-brazil

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