RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (OPINION) Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has never been known for either subtlety or modesty. Last week, on the eve of nationwide protests against his policies in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, he held up a sign containing three words: “imorrível, imbrochável, e incomível”.
This bit of braggadocio, translated freely, means he considers himself “invincible, inflexible and indigestible”. As a political as well as grammatical exercise, we will parse each word in this phrase.
“Imorrível” is derived from the verb “morrer” meaning to die, and refers not only to the failed attempt on his life while campaigning for president, but also to his having survived the Covid-19 “sniffles”. Macho Man cannot be killed.
“Imbrochável” comes from the verb “brochar” which means to wilt or go limp, rather than remaining hard or stiff. The verb almost always carries a sexual connotation: Macho Man does not “brochar”.
“Incomível” comes from the verb “comer”, meaning (in its everyday sense) to eat. Still, the verb also means to fornicate; by negative logic, Macho Man is never “F-word-able”.
Putting aside the innuendo, no one should underestimate the force of Bolsonaro’s belief in his own “legendary” status as a “mito”. Mythical heroes are (almost always) invincible: they cannot be defeated by fair means, only by foul.
Bolsonaro repeatedly claims, without offering any evidence, that he actually won the 2018 presidential election in the first round, but electronic fraud made him face a second round. He repeatedly claims that, if he does not win re-election in 2022, it will only be because of election fraud.
He has even claimed that only God – not impeachment, not elections – could remove him from office. Macho Man Bolsonaro’s claim that he is “invincible” is meant to intimidate his political enemies and bolster his core supporters.
Bolsonaro’s use of the vulgar “imbrochável” is (almost) entirely political. He portrays himself as a victim, a whipping boy for his opponents, who flail him for his failings in the pandemic.
Inflexible and unbending, Macho Man Bolsonaro maintains his ramrod-stiff defense of chloroquine and “preventive treatment”, his antipathy to vaccines, his indifference to mass deaths, and his opposition to wearing masks and social distancing. As with invincibility, he affirms his inflexibility to intimidate his enemies and bolster his core supporters.
Bolsonaro uses “incomível” as a direct challenge to the opposition calling for his ouster. ”Inedible” has unsavory synonyms, among them “unpalatable” and “distasteful”. Bolsonaro knows his positions on many issues are so irritating that they “stick in the craw” of the opposition, which cannot swallow or digest them.
By declaring himself “indigestible”, he signals that he is doubling down on his controversial positions. Macho Man Bolsonaro does not intend to reduce Amazon deforestation, nor his reliance upon military officers in his government, nor his blandishments to the “beef, bible and bullets” backbenchers in Congress, nor his pandering calls for cheap diesel fuel for truckers and toll-free highways for bikers.
Will this Macho Man strategy work? No one knows.
However, the number and composition of the protesters this past weekend may be indicative that it is not working. There were far more demonstrators than had been expected, even by the organizers. Moreover, many demonstrators wore green/yellow clothing and carried green/yellow banners, rather than the far left’s traditional red.
There are still 17 months before the October 2022 elections. This writer believes that, unless the death toll declines dramatically, the coronavirus is likely to claim Bolsonaro as an electoral victim, just as it did for Donald Trump.