Brazil's Political Pendulum - the bullet caucas

[Guest tomcal]

This article is from the Wall Street Journel today.

Bullet Caucus in Brazil Signals Political Shift to the Right

By SIMON ROMEROJAN. 14, 2015

SÃO PAULO, Brazil Paulo Telhada rolls his eyes, denouncing Brazils support for the leftist government of Venezuela. He frowns, grumbling about gun control measures.

But when the subject turns to how many people he killed as a police officer on São Paulos streets, he gives a broad smile.

More than 30, said Mr. Telhada, 53, a rising star in Brazilian right-wing political circles, having recently won a seat in São Paulos state legislature in a landslide.

I feel no pity for thugs, he added, emphasizing that he did not enjoy working in a fancy office. But I know my future lies in politics now.

Contractors are competing to lure workers from other government investment priorities to work on an irrigation project in northeast Brazils hinterland.

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Across Brazil, politicians like Mr. Telhada, with backgrounds in law enforcement or the armed forces, have been winning elections. In Congress, about 21 legislators now form what is called the bancada da bala, a bullet caucus seeking to bolster gun ownership and repeal laws keeping teenagers from being tried and sentenced as adults, among other conservative measures.

largest democracy. While Brazil is governed by President Dilma Rousseff a former leftist guerrilla who promotes the sway of state-owned companies, affirmative action and social welfare projects to reduce inequality the insurgents of Brazilian politics now largely come from the right.

The movement is national in scope, with figures like Moroni Torgan, a high-ranking leader of the Mormon Church in Brazil and a former police investigator. He received more votes in Octobers elections than any of the other candidates who won seats in the lower house of Congress for the northeast state of Ceará, campaigning on a platform of cracking down on drug trafficking.

Others in the congressional bullet caucus, like Waldir Soares, a police investigator in the central state of Goiás, are vowing to overhaul laws allowing criminals to avoid long prison sentences. Some are also fighting their own legal battles, including Éder Mauro, a police official under investigation for torture in Pará, the vast state in Brazils Amazon.

Political analysts attribute the rise of these conservative figures to a society fed up with violent crime. Drug gangs have expanded their reach across the country, and Brazil now ranks as the worlds second-largest cocaine-consuming country after the United States. According to the United Nations, Brazil has more homicides than any other country, with 50,108 in 2012, though the per capita homicide rate remains below those in countries like Honduras and Venezuela.

Some in the bullet caucus are making their presence felt at protests, like the ones in November along São Paulos leading thoroughfare, calling for the impeachment of Ms. Rousseff, who narrowly won re-election in October. Such demonstrations are still relatively small, but they point to a broader ideological shift with which Ms. Rousseff and her leftist Workers Party are grappling.

Conservative caucuses, including powerful blocs of legislators promoting the interests of evangelical Christian and agribusiness groups, now account for more than half the seats in Brazils lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies. Just a third of the ministers in Ms. Rousseffs 39-member cabinet now come from the Workers Party, reflecting the presidents need to forge coalitions with some conservatives from other parties.

Some opponents of Ms. Rousseff, however, are growing bolder, delivering outbursts of criticism against the leftist establishment that have shocked many Brazilians.

In a debate in December on the rights abuses committed during Brazils military dictatorship, which included the rape of female opponents of the government, one former military officer from Rio de Janeiro and ultraconservative fixture in Congress, Jair Bolsonaro, insulted a fellow legislator from the podium of the lower house.

I would not rape you, Mr. Bolsonaro, sometimes considered a pioneering member of the bullet caucus, told Maria do Rosário Nunes, a Workers Party legislator, after she called the dictatorship an absolute shame.

You dont merit that, he continued, implying that she was not worthy of being raped by him.

Mr. Bolsonaros son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, an official with the Federal Police, rode his fathers popularity in some circles by winning a seat in October elections as a congressman for São Paulo. As one of the bullet caucuss newest members, he told reporters that his father would have gunned down Ms. Rousseff in a presidential contest if he had been her opponent.

The belligerent language of the bullet caucus, whether in Brasília or legislatures at the municipal and state levels, is worrying rights advocates who fear that the lawmakers will shield police officers from accountability for abuses, including extrajudicial killings. Brazils police kill an estimated 2,000 people a year, but it remains rare for officers to be convicted of wrongdoing in such cases.

With Brazilian gun manufacturers financing the campaigns of many bullet caucus members, concerns are also growing about efforts to repeal gun control measures that have restricted people from purchasing firearms since 2003. Brazil remains a major manufacturer of firearms, with many guns exported to neighboring countries and smuggled back into Brazil.

Brazils disarmament legislation has saved many lives, said Marcos Fuchs, the adjunct director of Conectas, a leading Brazilian human rights group. Repealing it would be a disastrous reversal for the nation.

But with fatigue persisting over huge corruption scandals in the administrations of Ms. Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the growing popularity of political figures like Mr. Telhada, the retired São Paulo police officer, shows how attitudes in Brazil may be shifting.

Mr. Telhada expressed dismay over immigrants from African countries, neighboring nations in Latin America, and Haiti who are flowing into São Paulos old center. He disparagingly called the area where they are settling Africalandia, arguing that the Workers Party sees them as a new pillar of support.

To crack down on undocumented immigrants and drug trafficking, he said that he supported transferring troops away from cities like São Paulo to patrol borders in the Amazon.

Condemning gun control legislation, Mr. Telhada spoke glowingly of revolts like the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932, an uprising in São Paulo against the central government.

If the Brazilian population were armed properly today, this government would be at serious risk, he said, while adding that he supported change at the ballot box and not through the barrel of a gun.

The momentum of Mr. Telhada and other right-wing candidates has gained national attention. After serving on the City Council here since 2012, Mr. Telhada won a seat in São Paulos state legislature in October elections, obtaining more than 254,000 votes, the second-highest tally of any candidate in the race.

Next, Mr. Telhada said he was setting his sights on Brasília, where he potentially sees himself in a federal post overseeing security policies.

Or maybe senator, he said. Senator Telhada, that has a nice ring to it.