Jair Bolsonaro: Far-right candidate wins Brazil poll [View all]

[sandensea]

Source: BBC News

Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro has won a sweeping victory in Brazil's presidential election.

With nearly 98% of the vote counted, Mr Bolsonaro has 55.4% of the votes against 44.6% for Fernando Haddad from the left-wing Workers Party.

Mr Bolsonaro campaigned on a promise to eradicate corruption and to drive down Brazil's high crime levels. The election campaign has been deeply divisive. Each camp argued that victory for the other could destroy Brazil.

The result represents a marked right-wing swing in the country, which was under military rule from 1964 to 1985.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46013408

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Jair Bolsonaro and the runner-up, Workers' Party nominee Fernando Haddad.

The openly fascist Bolsonaro is part of a recent trend toward hard-right governments in South America. The result, as neighboring Argentina has learned, can often be a fry cry from expectations.