RIO DE JANEIRO In a small kitchen in the Catumbi slum in Rio de Janeiro, people have been working hard since five in the morning.
Flavia Matias preparing his mother Marlin and his daughter Flavia Cristina with about 300 free takeaway meals daily to the most needy in their community.
About 33 million Brazilians out of 214 million are starving. The number grew explosively, especially during the pandemic years. More than half of the population does not always get enough food on their plate.
With the pandemic years, inflation, unemployment and household debt increased. Many people who previously had sufficient basic income now need food assistance.
In Rio de Janeiro, food aid organizations and the city have rushed to help. Matias’ family has been cooking for three months as part of the Cozinhas Comunatiarias Cariocas program of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Marli has been selling the takeaway food she prepared in the Catumbi slum for 17 years, and the food aid program was an opportunity for the family to help their community.
– We have grown up here in Catumbi. It’s not just about food, it’s about respect for the residents of our region and a dignified life, says Flavia Matias.
The kitchen is open from Monday to Friday. On weekends, those covered by the kitchen’s food aid may not be able to eat at all, the chefs say.
– This community is in great need of help, and the situation worsened during the pandemic. We didn’t get any kind of help before this project, says Flavia.
Brazil thought it had overcome the famine
Back in the early 2000s, Brazil’s future looked promising. The global raw materials boom boosted the country’s economy.
President of the Labor Party Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his administration succeeded in lifting millions of people out of poverty through various social programs.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization removed Brazil from the map of the world’s hunger zones in 2014. However, in the same year, Brazil plunged into the Labor Party Dilma Rousseff during the administration to the economic crisis. The Labor Party was also embroiled in a corruption scandal.
The leadership of the country changed Michel Temer and the sitting president Jair Bolsonaro to right-wing governments that cut social programs and, for example, healthcare and education. Temer also implemented an employment reform, with which more and more people are working in the informal economy, such as market vendors.
Brazil’s economy has barely grown in almost a decade.
Hunger and extreme poverty have always been present in Brazil, says a social policy researcher at the University of Rio de Janeiro Silvina Galizia. According to him, however, President Bolsonaro has a hand in the scale and depth of the famine.
The corona pandemic ravaged Brazil particularly hard – the number of corona deaths has reached 700,000. Bolsonaro downplayed the severity of the corona disease and delayed getting vaccines.
Galizia estimates that the corona subsidies distributed by the Bolsonaro administration during and after the pandemic have not been sufficient. Those who, for example, work informally, of which there is a growing number in Brazil – about 40 percent of the employed – were not entitled to subsidies.
Countless people were left stranded in areas like Catumbi.
The war started by Russia in Ukraine has worsened inflation even more. Many families have fallen into financial distress.
– The money is enough for basic needs. That means crackers for the kids, rice and beans. Red meat remains on the store shelf. Before, with the same salary, you managed relatively well, says the unemployed person who lives in Catumbi Diogenes Francca36.
Famine became an election theme
The economic situation speaks to Brazilians both in the kitchen and at the ballot box. In the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, October 30, Bolsonaro and former president Lula will face each other.
Lula is campaigning with a program reminiscent of his two previous presidential terms from 2003 to 2010.
In Catumbi, many people remember Lula’s era fondly and criticize President Bolsonaro, who has tried to please the country’s economic elite in his politics.
– We hope for Lula’s victory, because we want such food aid projects to expand. We want to be protected even after the elections, says Flavia Matias.
Bolsonaro has downplayed the famine. However, due to the tight presidential race, the president has tried to fish for votes from Lula’s supporters as well.
Brazilian law prohibits extra social spending in an election year. Bolsonaro has circumvented the law by driving through the state of emergency, which is valid until the end of the year. With the support of the decree, the president has distributed billions of euros in subsidies to families with children and taxi drivers, for example.
Many consider Bolsonaro’s distribution of money an election trick. Investigator Gustavo Lucas The Department of Economics at the University of Rio de Janeiro says that Bolsonaro would likely continue his austerity and privatization policies when he gets to a second term.
– I have never seen someone distribute grants in such a populist manner to get re-elected, says Lucas.
According to the researcher, Lulankaa’s victory would not provide any miracle solutions to solve the problem of hunger and extreme poverty.
Lucas estimated that Lula would inherit a very fragmented labor market. In addition, his work would be hampered by a parliament that is not very friendly to his policies and a possible recession in the United States.
Promises to eradicate corruption appeal to Bolsonaro’s supporters
President Jair Bolsonaro came to power in the last election with promises of eradicating corruption and economic growth. The first round of the current election showed that this still appeals to many voters.
In particular, Bolsonaro’s speeches about the corruption of the Labor Party overshadow Lula, who himself was in prison due to a corruption conviction. The Supreme Court overturned the verdict last year.
Datafolha’s survey gave Bolsonaro 36 percent of the vote in the first round, in the end 43 percent of the voters supported the president. Bolsonaro received two million more votes than in the first round of the previous elections.
The elections also include voting on the composition of Congress and state administrations and governors. After the first round, the president’s party is also strong in the upper and lower houses of Congress.
Bolsonaro’s success has led Lula from the labor party to promise budgetary discipline, for example.
The slightly improved economy from the pandemic years creates wind for Bolsonaro’s election campaign. Inflation has fallen from 12 percent in April to around seven percent. Unemployment has dropped from about 15 to about nine percent in a year and a half.
While Lula gathers votes in low-income states and the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro appeals to middle- and upper-class voters who support conservative values.
One of them is a restaurant entrepreneur living in the middle-class suburb of Recreio Aías Farias Matos.
– Considering the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the economic situation looks good, says Farias Matos.
A graphic designer living in the upscale neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca Amanda Bragard to vote for Bolsonaro in the hope that he would be able to steer Brazil onto the path of economic growth over the next four years.
Bragard says he does not want the Labor Party to push Brazil into the same economic crisis as poor neighboring Venezuela.
– We got out of the crisis well this year. Lula focuses on the needs of the poor, which is of course a good thing. But he forgets that there are other social classes in Brazil, says Bragard.
You can discuss the topic on 30.10. until 11 p.m.