Brazil’s Wealthy South is the Region Most Loyal to Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government’s positive reviews and President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PSL) popularity have steadily declined in the first six months of the year.

After this period, it can be said that the most faithful “Bolsonaristas” are notable for two striking features: they have a southern accent and are among those with higher incomes.

Data from surveys published by Ibope since January show that Bolsonaro remains a “mito” (legend) especially among those earning more than five minimum wages, whose support grew in June.

In contrast to the downward trend in the current government’s positive reviews, southern residents are the only ones to have recorded increased support for Bolsonaro in the most recent survey, published last week in partnership with the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).

On the other hand, the northeastern and lower-income residents were the ones whose support for the president decreased in the first half of the year.

Regarding the prior Ibope survey in April, three out of ten northeasterners who supported Bolsonaro jumped ship. Today, only seventeen percent of the region’s residents, a Worker’s Party (PT) stronghold, regard the government as good or excellent.

In the south, by contrast, the assessment improved from April to June: today, with 52 percent approval for the President, eight points higher than in the previous survey, the region is the only one where more than half of the population supports him.

Virtually half of the people earning more than five minimum wages support the president.

The data by income ultimately reflect on education-based figures. Bolsonaro also saw a sharp drop among those who studied only until the 4th year of elementary school, recording six points less than the April survey published last week — while the other brackets in this segment have not varied as much.