ctec-jp - Bolsonaro promises to "redeem the middle class from the corrupt and criminal state"

Bolsonaro speeds up payments to the poor as election looms

In this January 5, 2018, photo, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gestures during a news conference to unveil Brazil’s new $13.9 billion military plan, in Brasilia, Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

(Newser) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has pledged to give some of the poorest and most marginalized people a fast track to retirement: “We will no longer allow those of us who have the means to live in poverty to wait for the others to die,” he joked in a speech this week. “We will make the pension plan universal,” he continued. His “Bolsancamos” promise, which translates to “Let’s Build It,” has been met with immediate skepticism on social media, with many questioning whether Bolsonaro’s pension plan would actually help the poor. One of his proposed solutions: giving everyone a $2,500 monthly “lifestyle bonus” to spend on food.

The plan is ambitious, but Bolsonaro believes it could be achieved with the necessary investments and government oversight. “To build a better life for every one of the 9 million Brazilians who live in poverty, without taking away the dignity of any one of them,” the President told cheering supporters at a rally Friday. Bolsonaro says it will involve “reinforced solidarity” between the different levels of government, and will be managed by the new Workers’ Party. “The party is the only way to solve our problems,” Bolsonaro continued, promising to “end poverty, social injustice and inequality in a generation or two.” “And the first step will be the pension reform—it’s the most important one,” he added.

Bolsonaro’s “redeem the middle class from the corrupt and criminal state” goal, he says, is to “reform work from the inside, by reorienting social rights from the top down.” The plan aims to end the “dependence of Brazil on commodity exports”