Beef, Bible and Bullets by Richard Lapper — the rise and rule of Brazil’s Bolsonaro

Forget Erdogan. Forget Orban. Forget Modi. Long before the rest of the world caught the populist bug, Latin America was hard at work perfecting the art. Perón, Chávez, Ortega: here, crowd-pleasing caudillos rule.

Step forward Jair Bolsonaro, the latest in this colourful yet contentious tradition. A low-profile congressman for decades, the gaffe-prone former soldier surprised everyone (even perhaps himself) by springing from nowhere to win Brazil’s 2018 election.

So, how exactly did he do it? And, more importantly, what does the rise and rule of his nationalist, pro-business, chauvinist, environmentally sceptical administration tell us about modern Brazil?

Both are questions that Richard Lapper, a former FT Latin America editor, tackles with admirable distance and balance — qualities rare within the ultra-polarised Brazil of today.

Not that Lapper pulls punches in Beef, Bible and Bullets. Up front, the author muses on whether Bolsonaro qualifies as a fascist. Many of the textbook attributes are there: arch social conservatism, strong militaristic leanings, a worrying penchant for authoritarianism (as a congressman, he once advocated for Brazilians to raise their right arms during the national anthem).

What is lacking, Lapper concludes, is any sense of administrative order or political project. The sense is that Bolsonaro could just drag Brazil back to its anti-democratic past, yet he just lacks the organisational competence to do so.

The shambles of Bolsonaro’s government lurks throughout this incisive book, from the spike in Amazonian deforestation to ham-fisted treatment of China (Brazil’s largest trading partner). Such bungling has some home to roost with the Covid-19 pandemic. The president’s initial response to testing: “I am not going to walk around with my tail between my legs.”

Yet, it’s the ineptitude of Brazil’s political class that really explains his rise. With an understanding born from years of observing Brasilia’s power plays, Lapper lays out in statistic-heavy detail how deals get made and backs get scratched.

By 2018, a combination of economic mismanagement, political cronyism, and straight-out corruption — descriptions of which occupy the book’s first half — had slowly discredited Brazil’s established parties, especially the left-leaning Workers party.

The scene was set for someone to sweep in Trump-like to deal with the dross. Suddenly, Bolsonaro’s political isolation — caused by his “bizarre” views and lack of a fixed party affiliation — looked like shrewd manoeuvring. The “outsider” candidate, ready and waiting.

This book’s value lies in its determination to take Bolsonaro seriously. Not Bolsonaro the man, but Bolsonaro the phenomenon.

Here was a leader who wouldn’t pander to lily-livered environmentalists or defenders of minority rights

Here, Lapper covers the president’s savvy use of social media (managed largely by his sons) and his reputation for authenticity (read: “boorishness”). But he also looks beyond, to the fears and frustrations that lie beneath the carnival caricature of a nation at play.

As the book’s title flags, it’s a journey that takes him in three main directions: to the agribusiness lobby set on putting Brazil to the plough; to the neo-Pentecostal churches bent on protecting family values; and to the gun-toting militias committed to cleaning up the streets (and controlling the drug trade).

It also offers a welcome change in pace. Fewer pundits and pollsters; more punters on the doorstep. In one notable encounter, for example, we meet Crisnel Ramalho, a former logger turned gold digger living in a backwater Amazonian town. His view on the environment? “It’s a joke.” On the Indigenous? “Still here, ignorant, rotting away”. Did he vote for Bolsonaro? Yes, “with pleasure . . . and I’m not sorry”.

Each group for its own reasons recognises Bolsonaro as a man who sympathises with their concerns and shares their prejudices. Here was a leader who wouldn’t pander to lily-livered environmentalists or defenders of minority rights.

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The picture that emerges is of a Brazil starkly at odds with the progressive, rainbow nation pushed on the world since the return of democracy in 1985. Bolsonaro did not create this other, less likeable Brazil. Nor will it always be in ascendancy (impeachment threats are never far away).

The book finishes all too abruptly. Lapper’s reluctance to speculate on where the Bolsonarian circus show might be heading is evident, yet regrettable. In the spirit of his subject matter, readers have forgiven — perhaps even enjoyed? — some opinion-laden speculation.

Back in the real world, however, Brazil’s dark underbelly has come out of the shadows. Addressing its flaws first requires understanding its foundations. Beef, Bible and Bullets marks an earnest attempt to do just that.

Beef, Bible and Bullets: Brazil in the Age of Bolsonaro by Richard Lapper, Manchester University Press £20/$29.95, 296 pages

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