Bolsonaro speeds up payments to the poor as election looms
Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has promised to give all new Brazilians a monthly income of $1.2, arguing that the poor stand to benefit from increased tax revenue if he wins re-election on March 8.
The plan includes eliminating the minimum wage and capping the monthly salaries of doctors, nurses and others working in public sectors.
Bolsonaro says he cannot afford a mansion at taxpayers’ expense, a suggestion that has been rejected by economists. He insists he will not cut spending, which is already under fire over public spending increases and new pension reforms.
In the new campaign ad, he describes himself as “a poor man in Brazil” who can’t “eat at the table of the rich”, adding: “For us, there are no rich and there are no poor. The rich, those with the law and those with money, are not interested in the poor.”
Bolsonaro is seeking a second term in office in Brazil’s presidential election, which is likely to be a decisive one after his party won the 2018 mid-term legislative elections on the back of his anti-corruption policy and promises of a radical social agenda.
Bolsonaro has pledged to take on the rich and support the poor. “Those in the 1%, with money and the law, are not interested in the poor,” he says in the ad.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has taken advantage of the economic downturn to further attack Brazil’s poor. (Photo: AP)
In December, the president published a tax proposal aimed at taxing Brazil’s wealthy and reducing public spending. The proposals would tax $50,000 worth of assets worth between $1 million and $10 million, and $20,000 worth between $10 million and $30 million, and include a monthly income of $1.2, or roughly $150 a month, for those above the taxable income threshold.
The tax is meant to encourage people to save, but could also hit poorer people harder than expected, potentially exacerbating poverty.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly promised that if elected he will eliminate the minimum wage, roll back public spending, tax rich people, and cut public services.
But in an interview with the newspaper ÉP