Braz. political sci. rev.2026;20(1):e0003.

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The Limits of the Right-Wing Nation: A Comparative Analysis of Far-Right Discourse in Bolivia and Brazil (2016–2023)

Joallan Cardim Rocha , André Kaysel Velasco e Cruz

DOI: 10.1590/1981-3821202600010003

Abstract

Over the past decade, the rise of the far right in Latin America has generated a substantial body of scholarship. Yet there remains a striking lack of theoretical and conceptual frameworks to account for the historical specificity of this phenomenon in the region. This article seeks to address that gap through a comparative study of the ideological profiles of the far right in Bolivia and Brazil between 2016 and 2022, focusing on their two main leaders: Luis Fernando Camacho, former governor of Santa Cruz, and Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil. To do so, we draw on a range of empirical sources as well as existing scholarship on both contexts. The choice of Bolivia and Brazil, along with the selected timeframe, reflects the fact that both countries experienced a similar political trajectory: the crisis of progressive governments, the emergence of far-right leaders, and the eventual return of progressives to power. At the same time, the Brazilian and Bolivian cases reveal significant differences, above all regarding the far right’s unequal capacity to establish hegemony. To make sense of these divergent patterns, we examine how far-right discourse engaged with distinct social, ethno-racial, and regional cleavages. Drawing on a spatial conception of the far right as discursive coalitions united against common enemies, we argue that while Camacho linked anti-Masismo to a regionalist appeal – thereby alienating the Indigenous majority and confining his base to eastern Bolivia – Bolsonaro framed anti-petismo in ways that resonated with diverse groups on a national scale.