The second round of presidential elections in Brazil led to an increase in the country’s visibility in the international press in the last week. In total, between October 24th and 30th, 169 articles were recorded with prominent mentions of Brazil in the seven foreign press vehicles analyzed by the International Interest Index (iii-Brazil).
This is the visibility record recorded by the survey carried out since the beginning of the year by the National Interest portal and represents almost three times the average of 59 reports about the country recorded weekly over the 29 weeks of analysis until the elections.
Most of the texts about Brazil in the period (52%) had a neutral tone. The period also recorded 35% of texts with a negative tone, with the potential to worsen the prestige of the country in the world. The proportion of positive news, with the potential to improve the country’s image, was 13%, above the average recorded so far in iii-Brazil.
The analysis of the image of Brazil in the international press reveals an oscillation in the editorial tone used by foreign newspapers to talk about the country in the period. Until Sunday, election day, the critical look at the political situation in Brazil is evident, with articles about the tension experienced by the country, negative analyzes about the government of Jair Bolsonaro and the concern about the state of democracy.
As of the end of Sunday, the last day analyzed, some foreign newspapers have already reported the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) with a more positive tone.
The most critical stance was evident in editorials published by some of the foreign newspapers analyzed. The American The New York Times published an opinion piece quite prominently warning of the risks that a Bolsonaro victory could pose for the entire planet due to the acceleration of the destruction of the Amazon.
“Because of the increasing rates of deforestation under President Jair Bolsonaro, the Amazon ecosystem is on the brink of catastrophe. The loss of millions of trees has already caused reduced rainfall. Areas not yet transformed into farms are expected to shift from dense forest to savanna drought as the Amazon reaches a ‘tipping point’ — of spiraling degradation from which there is no return,” the article reads.
The British Guardian also published an editorial critical of the president. According to the text, “the planet will not support a second term of the far-right president”.
The London daily’s assessment goes beyond the environmental issue, however: “A secondary risk – but still deeply alarming – is a further entrenchment of undemocratic authoritarianism. There are fears that he could undermine institutions and change the Constitution to allow for a third term,” he says.
On Election Day, the Guardian published another article in which he called Bolsonaro a “Brazilian catastrophe” and gave visibility to opposition movements that advocated that he be stopped.
Although not exactly an editorial, the French newspaper Le Monde published a video documentary about the destruction of the Amazon in recent years and an opinion piece in which it says that Bolsonaro’s re-election would be a disaster for the Amazon.
The Portuguese newspaper Público ran several opinion articles about the Brazilian elections, most of the time with a negative tone. One of them claimed that the election would help define the future of democracy and the planet, another said that Bolsonaro’s re-election would represent the end of the Amazon and a third said that Brazil could become a dictatorship if Bolsonaro wins: “The current president explores what was already latent in Brazil: the logic of domination, legacy of slavery and dictatorship, racism, suspicion in the face of science”.
The Spanish newspaper El PaÃs had the most coverage of the elections among those analyzed by iii-Brasil, with 58 articles with prominent mentions of the country. The daily published several opinion pieces on the political situation on the eve of the second round, most of them critical of the president.
Bolsonaro is described by one of them as a leader who has “destruction as a strategy”. Another article evaluates the legacy of Bolsonarism and says that it increased the strength of conservatism in the country. A third, as seen in other newspapers, talks about the risk that reelection could pose to the Amazon. And a fourth listed the lies told by Bolsonaro in the campaign, claiming that Brazil was torn between “infamy and hope”.
In Argentinian Clarin, an article pointed to political uncertainties and the growing polarization in the country on the eve of the election. Another analysis dealt with the need to rebuild ties between Brazil and Argentina.
With empathic and inclusive relevance, a text mentions that there are 33 million in poverty in the country, which needs to be governed by a person who has already been hungry — as narrated in the book “Quarto de Espejo: Diário de uma Favelada”, by Carolina Maria de Jesus.
The change in the tone of the news, with a more positive approach, was already noticeable on Sunday night. Both the NYT and the English, Spanish and Argentine newspapers have already published reports with a much more positive tone about Lula’s “impressive” return to power after defeating the right, promising to unify and pacify the country.
Due to the time difference, Le Monde, Público and China Daily did not get to report the results of the elections on Sunday. The news about Lula’s victory only came out in the early hours of Monday.
Público notes that, despite the country being divided, it is expected that after the elections the dispute will be left behind, as the people want a government that makes life better. El PaÃs also praises the quality of the security of Brazilian electronic voting machines.
Since the beginning of April, the iii-Brasil, when studying the international image of Brazil, collected and analyzed an average of 63 reports per week with prominent mentions of the country in the seven analyzed press vehicles. Over the last 30 weeks, iii-Brasil recorded an average of 51% of neutral-toned reports, 38% of negative-toned mentions and 11% of positive texts about the country.
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