"THE CAPTAIN has arrived," chanted thousands of Brazilians on January 1st as Jair Bolsonaro ascended the white marble ramp that leads to the Planalto, the presidential palace in Brasilia. Freshly inaugurated, the country's 38th president looked out over the crowd of flag-waving supporters, soldiers on horseback and be-suited statesmen and spoke with the fiery tone that characterised his unlikely ascent. He vowed to rid Brazil of socialism, political correctness and "ideology that defends bandits". Unfurling a flag, he declared that it would "never be red, unless our blood is needed to keep it yellow and green". "Mito" ("Legend"), the crowd chanted.
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