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When people started calling Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro the "Trump of the Tropics," he didn't feel bad about it. In fact, after the January 6 violence at Capitol Hill, he said that he felt "connected" to Trump and didn't condemn the incident.
Bolsonaro has given enough indications in recent months that he wouldn't mind following the Trump playbook on many aspects.
One of them is voting. In recent months, Bolsonaro has been trying to garner support for his stand on electronic balloting systems in the country. Putting forward unsubstantiated claims, Bolsonaro has been claiming that it is open to fraud and that Brazil should go for paper receipt for each vote cast. A Brazilian court has overthrown Bolsonaro's fraud allegations against the electronic system. But he is persisting. He has also vowed not to recognize the presidential election results next year. [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/world/americas/brazil-vote-bolsonaro.html]
According to observers, Bolsonaro, who is behind in the opinion polls for next year's elections, may use voter fraud to dispute the election, just like Trump did in the United States.
He is also trying to get emotional and garner support from his base and beyond like evangelicals. "I have three alternatives for my future: being arrested, killed, or victory," he said recently, addressing evangelicals. [https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/29/americas/bolsonaro-brazil-elections-intl/index.html
Recently, the former officer in the Brazilian army also staged a military parade in Brasilia, which critics said, was to pressure lawmakers in the National Congress to vote for a law requiring voting machines to print paper receipts. He lost the vote. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/10/bolsonaro-banana-republic-military-parade-condemned-by-critics-brazil]
With Bolsonaro mismanaging of the pandemic and an economy that is not showing any signs of sustained growth, polls are showing Bolsonaro way behind in polls against his potential challenger, former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, by some 20 points. Some observers say that this may be too big a hole to fill for the combative far-right Bolsonaro. But they also predict that he will keep trying his best to sow doubts in the people's minds about the elections.
Read more:
Following the Trump playbook:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/11/bolsonaro-trump-playbook/
His three "alternatives":
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/29/election-victory-death-or-prison-bolsonaros-names-his-three-alternatives-for-2022