Brazilian Economist Paulo Nogueira Batista is warning that, should Flavio Bolsonaro win in the second round of presidential elections Oct. 25, he has vowed to transform Brazil into a version of Javier Milei’s Argentina. That will mean Brazil’s destruction. Recall that Nogueira was a panelist in EIR’s Sept. 24 emergency roundtable on the Americas and is a former Vice President of the BRICS New Development Bank and former IMF Executive Director for Brazil and ten other countries. In an interview with the “From the Editor” program of Carta Capital’s You Tube channel, posted to the daily’s website Nogueira asserted that the upsurge in the Brazilian stock market (Ibovespa) on Oct. 5, one day following the first round Oct. 4, means nothing. (Ibovespa rose to a record 200,000 points while the dollar dropped by 4%.) “The market is worthless,” he said, only “contaminated by bolsonarismo.”
Pointing to Flavio’s desire to emulate Javier Milei’s destructive policies in Argentina, he asked, “After all, what is Flávio Bolsonaro other than a Brazilian version of Milei?” He has no experience in governing. “He’s been a mediocre senator all his life.” Nogueira recalled that Flavio’s top economic adviser, Daniella Marques, had reported on Sept. 14 that his campaign had already prepared to revoke 1,000 regulations as soon as Flavio takes office, “inspired a little bit by what Milei has done in Argentina.” Brazil’s economy is “more robust,” Nogueira said, “but it’s not impermeable to destruction.”
Flavio’s “inspiration” is an Argentina that “lives in penury,” he added, and cited Argentine statistics just released on Sept. 24 showing the increase in poverty to 32.2%, in which 44.5% children under the age of 14 live are immiserated. The entire interview in Portuguese can be seen on this YouTube channel.
Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT), which Lula founded, is also running with the Bolsonaro-Milei polemic. In a posting on X Oct. 7, the PT began circulating a short video including clips of statements and statistics documenting Argentina’s growing unemployment, poverty, homelessness and hunger as a result of Milei’s economic policies. Another clip shows Milei and Flavio Bolsonaro embracing in Buenos Aires and Flavio delivering a separate speech touting Milei’s economic ‘miracles', boasting that the excellent results “are there for the whole world to see.” His greatest hope, he told Milei, “is to become like you today.” Another clip reports that in some parts of beef-rich Argentina, people have resorted to eating donkey meat for the traditional “asado”—barbecue— rather than beef, because donkey meat is 50% cheaper. The question the PT poses at the end is, “is anyone prepared to eat donkey meat in Brazil a year from now?”