01/02/19 01/02/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is , democracy now! pres. trump: if we don't get whwhat we want, whether it is through you or military or through anything you want to call, i will shut down the government. and i am proud. i am proud to shut down the government for border security, chuck. amy: it is day 12 of the government shutdown as president from prepares for another white house meeting with congressional leaders. we look at the impact on the

800,000 federal workers --loughed or being first forced to work without pay. one of the largest unions representing federal government workers is suing the government over the shutdown. we speak with the lead attorney in the lawsuit and david borer, geneneral counsel fofor the amen federation of government employees. then to brazil, where far right army captain jair bolsonaro has been sworn in as president of the world's fourth largest democracy. >> we are going to restore order in this country. we are aware of this awesome responsibility and the challenges that we will face. we know where we want to go in the potential that brazil has. amy: we speak with fernando haddad, the workers' party candidate who ran against bolsonaro for president. >> bolsonaro, his whole life has been uplifting not onlnly the dictatorship itself, but also the methods the dictatorship used, including torture. amy: is brazil's young democracy

at risk? all that a and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm m amy goodman. in brazil, the far-right former army captain jair bolsonaro was sworn in as brazil's 42nd president on new year's day, declaring liberation from socialism and promising to restore law-and-order to brazilian society. >> it is also urgent we put an end to the ideology of crimininalizing the police. this has brought about an increase in violence in brazil and in the power of organized crime, taking the lives of those who are innocent, destroying families, and bringing insecurity everywhere. to restore order in this country. we are aware of this awesome responsibility and the challenges thatt we will face. we know where we want to go in the potential that brazil has.

amy: many fear brazil's young democracy is now at risk. for years bolsonaro has praised , brazil's former military dictatorship, while speaking in favor of torture and threatening to destroy, imprison, or banish his political opponents. later in the broadcast, we'll air our interview with fernando haddad, the workers' party candidate who lost in the runoff election agagainst b bolsonaro t october. the partial government shutdown enters its 12th day today, as president trump prepares to meet with congressional leaders just a day before democrats take control of the house. president trump has insisted on including $5 billion for border wall funding before he'll agree to sign any spending measure. 800,000 government workers' lives have been thrown into disarray by the shut down, with 380,000 furloughed workers, and another 420,000 f forced to work without papay since the house ad sesenate failed to pass an e enf yeyear spending g billn decembmr 22. ter headlilines, wheels bibig wh lawyers for r the federal workes union suing the trump

administration, saying it is illegal to make federal workers work without pay. u.s. border agents tear gassed migrantsts at the u.s.-mexico border early tuesday. the attack occurred in the same area as the teargassing in november at the border between tijuana and san diego. ththe tear gas reportedly afaffd women and children who were amid the group of targeted migrants. meanwhile president trump , addressed the deaths of two migrant children in u.s. custody saturday. in a tweet, he blamed democrats for the deaths, saying -- "any deaths of children or others at the border are strictly the fault of the democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. they can't. if we had a wall, they wouldn't even try!" in texasimimmigrt ririgh activists shut dn n the tranance to the tornillo ntnt camneww year's ev whehereeveralal thousand immigrantououth a beg detained. the activists haveeen

organingng dai actionsor t the stst two weeksks under the bannr of "christmas inorornill" >> i'm a dallas cntnty counitity orgagazer. we are here at the port of entry in fntnt of concncentrationn cap , teenagers tween the ages of 12 and 17. this i ithe onlyay we are gointo shut this dowisis siststan, actiti. it is with our voices are met wiwith t stotori we hear. this should not be happening in america. we are most incarceratedouountry in t wororld and it is said that weelebrate freedo amy:he tornillo facity has come under fire om immigrant d human rights aivists, democratic lawkekers and heaealh profesononals. last month, the shelter opator baptist child d d fami serves said ey expecteto cle the fality by mid-jaary. anwhile arizonathe maricopaheriff's offi ferred aarent evence of

use at ahihildr's immigrioion pron t to prosecorors moay.. last week, l localublilicaon posted sveveillae vividefrom september from the hacienda del sol dention ceer inn younown,n, swing s sffers drging, , apping, d d pushing ilildren e e facity, , run sououthst kekey,as shut wnwn at e end of totober. ththe izona dertment ohealth rvices h accusedouthwest key septemb of failg to providevidencef staff ckgroundhecks. u.s. secretatary ostate mi popoeo met with h iseli prime minist benjamimin netanyahin brazil, where both men w were in attendancece for new brazilian president jair bolsonaroro's inauguration. pompeo areressedrumpmp's recentt decision to withdraw u.s.s. tros from syria. > in no wayay changes anythig this a administration is working on alongsiside israe the campaign continues. commitment too

stability andnd protection n of israel conontinues in the same y it did before that decision was made. amy: u.s. officials said monday the military will have four months to withdraw troops from sysyria, rather thanan the 30 ds initially announced by trump. the withdrawal will be overseen by patrick shanahan, the former boeing executive, the weapons manufacturer. he became acting secretary of defense on new year's day after the former pentagon chief james mattis resigned in protest of trump's foreign policy. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu also met with president bolsonaro in brazil. netanyahu said the newly inaugurated president told him brazil would move their embassy to jerusalem, following the u.s.'s move in may of last year. bolsonaro reportedly said -- "it's not a question of if, just a question of when." honduras is also reportedly considering moving t their embay to jerusalem. in gaza, mourners gathered at the funeral of 26 year-old karam fayyad saturday, a palestinian man who was killed friday by

israeli forces during a protest at the separation barrier with israel. friday marked the 40th consecutive week of protests under the banner of the great march of return. israeli forces have killed at least 240 palestinians protesters and injured at least 18,000 o others since march 30 f last year. the united states and israel are, as of yesterday, officially out of unesco -- the united nations educational, scientific, and cultural organization. the trump administration announced the withdrawal in october 2017, citing anti-israel bias, with israel following suit immediately after. both the u.s. and israel had stopped paying member dues since 2011 after palestine joined unesco. in a televised new year's address, north korean leader kim jong-un said he would like to meet with president trump for a second summit on a possible denuclearization deal, while threatening to resume nuclear efforts if the u.s. did not offer any concessions on sanctions.

>> i am always ready to sit down again with the u.s. president at any time, and will make efforts to produce an outcome that the international community would well him. is calculatess. our patients, forces something upon us and pursue sanctions and pressure without keeping a promise it made in front of the world, we have no option but to explore new have an order to protect our sovereignty and achieve these on the korean peninsula. amy: in a historic summit in june, trump and kim pledged to work toward complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula but have since been at an impasse over the issue of lifting sanctions on north korea. netflix is coming under fire for pulling an episode of u.s. comedian has m minh's ow "patriot actfrfrom sdi a araa, after offials fromhehe kinom complained to the streaming coanany. the epise, which became available in late ococber, a f weeks after sai i jourlistst jal khashoi's murder iththe saudi consule e in ianbubul,as

sharply critical of e e saud royal fafamilyand d inarticula crcrn prince mohamed bin saln.n. oaks mbs was shocked by all the anger of the kiining ofne jonalilist on a phone call th jared kushr,r, mbs asked, why the trtrage? confusi iss complete u underandadabl hehe ibeen getng away th autoatic lik t ts with hiis no blowbacfrfrom t inrnatioiol community. am mininhaslams thsaudii reme and t c crownrincnce r s cover-up of khhoggi's killin i its psecucuti of women and human rits activis,s, andts c cenal rolol in thengoing w o on yen. he also lls out ee long-sndnding lationsh betweeeesaudi ariaia andhe uned state and skers the stern porayal ofhe crown prince aa moderneformer. inanglades at leas17 people were killed during violent clashes between the leading party and its opposition, as voters headed to the polls sunday.

the ruling awami league party swept the parliamentary elections sunday, ensuring a third term for prime minister sheikh hasina. opposition leaders and election observers have called out gross irregularities in the voting alleging widespread voter intimidation, and restrictions on polling agents. in the philippines, flash floods and landslides killed at least 85 people since saturday, when a tropical depression dumped torrential rain onto the philippines. search and rescue teams are looking for survivors. meanwhile, a landslide in indonesia's west java province killed at least 15 people on new year's eve, with scores still missing. this came just over a week after a devastating tsunami provoked by the eruption of the krakatoa volcano killed at least 430 people. massachusetts democratic senatar elizabeth warren announced monday she is launching an exploratory committee for a possible 2020 presidential campaign. she becomes the first ties

profile -- highest profile democrat to confirm her likely presidential bid in what is expected to be a crowded primary field. her video announcement took on the familiar themes of economic inequality and reigning in corporate greed. this is warren speaking to reporters later that day. >> america's middle class iss getting hohoowed out an opportunity for too many of our young people is shrinking. so i am in this fight all the way. right now washington works great for the wealthy and the well-connected. it is just not working for anyone else. but i am optimistic. i believe in what we can do together. i am going to build a grassroots campaign. amy: on tuesday, senator warren said she plans to visit iowa this weekend. iowa is a popular first stop for presidential candidates as it is the first state to vote in the primaries. climate activists pushing for the creation of a green new deal committee when democrats take control of the house this week, were met with disappointment friday when presumptive incoming house speaker nancy pelosi

announced the creation of another environmental panel instead. the select committee on the climate crisis is set to be led by long-standing florida congressmember kathy castor. proponents of the green new deal have argued that the panel will be too weak, as it will not have legislative power and may not have subpoena power. the proposal for a green new deal also sought to bar congress members who accept money from the fossil fuel industry. at least 45 congress members have backed the green new deal spearheaded by alexandria ocasio-cortez. high profile senators including bernie sanders, cory booker, and elizabeth warren have also come out in support of the proposal. the trump admiministration has proposed rule changes that would make it far easier for coal-fired power plants to release mercury and other toxins into the atmosphere. the plan proposed by the enenvironmental protection ageny on friday would change how the federal government calculates the costs of pollution on human health, dramatically downplaying the financial burden to society

from deaths and illnesses. the obama administration estimated the rules now set to be overturned would prevent 11,000 premature deaths each year. incoming r republican senanatort romney of utah writes thatat president trump has not risen to the mantle of the office. in a new year's day op-ed published by "the washington post," romney says he supports trump's policies, including tax cuts, deregulation, and the appointment of conservatives judges to federal courts. but romney says trump has failed to show "honesty and integrity" as president, writing -- "with the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. and it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring." romney is among the freshmen members of congress set to be sworn in by vice president mike pence on thursday. the trump administration has taken steps to shield the interior department from public scrutiny, proposing rule changes that would allow it to deny freedom of information act requests it considers too large

or "unreasonably burdensome." the interior department's proposed rule e changes wewere d in the federal register on friday, just two weeks after interior secretary ryan zinke was forced to step down amid 17 federal ininvestigations into os sususpected ethics v violationsd corruption. in california, the two-year-old boy whose yemeni mother was banned from entering the u.s. due to the trump administration travel ban, died friday. abdullah hassan, who was an american citizen, had a rare brain disorder and was being treated in the u.s., but his mother shaima swileh had to sue in order to get a waiver to travel because she was from yemen -- one of the five majority-muslim countries that are barred from entering the u.s. they were reunited just over a week before the toddler's death. this is abdullah hassan's father ali hassan. because myere today government failed our family. i am a u.s. citizen.

my son is a u.s. citizen. kept my wife from coming to the u.s. for over a year. it forced me to choose between my son's health and keeping our familyly together. we know our son did not die inin vain. -- one to our struggle the people affected by the libya,ban from yemen, and syria.ia, in life, policyh his will be changed and families will be reunited. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and d around the wororl. the government shutdown enters

its 12th day as president trump prepares to meet with congressional leaders just one day before democrats take control of the house. president trump has insisted on including $5 billion for border wall funding before he'll agree to sign any spending measure. trump tweeted tuesday -- "border security and the wall "thing" and shutdown is not where nancy pelosi wanted to start her tenure as speaker! let's make a deal" 800,000 government workers' lives have been n thrown into disarray by the shut down, with 380,000 furloughed workers, and 420,000 who have worked without pay since the house and senate failed to pass an end of year spending bill on december 22. this is president trump speaking to fox news on new year's day. >> how far are you willing to go, mr. president? when you anticipate talks with chuck and nancy, as you say, sir? pres. trump: issa when they get back. i am in washington. i am ready and willing and able.

i am in the white house. they could come over at anytime. i spent christmas in the white house. i spent new year's eve now in the white house. i am here. i am ready to go. it is very important. a lot of people are looking to get their paycheck. theyready to go anytime want. we're not giving up. we have to have border security. the wall is a big part of secretive. the biggest part. juan: this comes as trump has issued an executive order freezing pay for federal workers in 2019, eliminating a 2.1% pay raise that was set to kick in in january. amy: well, we turn now to look at a federal wororkers union tht is suing the trump administration over the shutdown. the american federation of government employees, or afge, says it is illegal for federal workerers to work without papay. and washington, d.c., we are joined by two guests. david borer is general counsel at the american federation of government employees. heidi burakiewicz is the lead attorney in a lawsuit suing the

federal government on behalf of members of the afge, and federal employees being forced to work without pay during the partial government shutdown. she is a partner at the law firm kalijarvi, chuzi, nenewman & fitch. welcome to democracy now! david borer, let's begin with you. i spent a lot of time in airports this weekend. i talked to a lot of tsa agents. they are all being forced to workrk without pay.. can you explain how this is legal in any way? >> good morning, amy. that's right. we represent 42,000 tsa workers. to, they are being forced work without pay. they have been doesn't they did -- designated as he central employees. or thes no pay for them furloughed employees because of the lapse in appropriations when the spending authority ran out before the holidays.

yes, they're being forced to work without pay will stop 400,000 federal employees coming to work every day in essential services like tsa, like the bureau of prisons, like food inspectors and so forth. and yet no promise even they will ever be paid for this. juan: heidi burakiewicz, this is that the first time this has happened. can you talk about the lawsuit that was previously filed on this issue? i think it was back in 2013. and how far that got along in terms of legally deciding the government's power in regards to these shutdowns? >> yes, good morning. the lawsuit we filed a few days ago alleges that the government is violating the fair labor standards act, depression-era minimum sets the basic for worker protections in this country. it implies to all -- it applies to all employers. in 2013, after the government

shutdown in october 2013, we filed a similar lawsuit come also alleging a violation of this act. in response to the government's motion to dismiss, the judge determine in fact the government had violated the act. the only issue left was whether or not the government was liable for liquidated damages. the court subsequently rolled the government had not acted in good faith when it required all the central workers to go to work and not get paid on the regularly scheduled payday during the shut down. and thatat is what is happening again now. and you go we're going to go to break and then come back to this discussion with heidi burakiewewicz, lead attttorney a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of of the workers, and david borer, the general counsel at the american federation of government employees. about 800,000 workers are being forced to work without pay or are furloughed right now. those that are furloughed will not be paid for this time. this is democracy now!

back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the government shutdown enters its 12th day to do is president trump prepares do it with congressional leaders just a day before democrats take control of the house. government workers' lives have 800,000 been disrupted by the shutdown 380,000 furloughed , workers, and 420,000 who have worked without pay since december 22. juan: president trump has insisted on including $5 billion for border wall before agreeing to sign any spending measure. he said the partial government shutdown will last until democrats agree to $5 billion in border wall funding, despite his campaign pledge that he would make mexico pay for a wall. tell trump: i can't he

you when the government is going to be open. i continue it isn't going to be open until we have a wall, fence, whatever they want to call it. it is all the same thing. it is a barrier from people pouring into our country from drugs, it is a barrier from drugs. the only way you're going to do it is to have a physical barrier, meaning a wall. and d if you don't have that, tn we're just not opening. amy: and washington, d.c., with us, david borer and heidi burakiewicz, suing the federal government on behalf of federal workers. he is talking about the wall for security, david. story. an astounding you have allll of these people n charge of security, like the tsa agents at the airports, like the border agents on the border. none of them are being paid. >> that's right. view the trump shutdown as another example of what happens when the government plays

politics with the federal workforce. if you remember the government shutdown in 1995 and 1990 6 am a newt gingrich said part of the reason for it was president clinton had not talked to him on the way back from a funeral on air force one, and felt snubbed, therefore, he shutdown the government. though in the first two years of his administration the republicans controlled both houses of the congress, president trump was unable to get funding for his supposed wall and now he is the wrong attention much like newt gingrich did in making federal employees pay the price. what about this freeze on the cost of living increases that workers are supposed to receive in january? again, this is not the first time this has

happened. it is have not just under republican presidents, but also under democratic presidents, that the white house has used scheduled pay increases for federal workers -- in essence, rate the federal workers money in order to deal with other ?ssues in the budget >> that's right. you said they used the federal employees pay and benefits as an atm for many years. there was pay freezes under the obama administration, and now stoppedt trump has a the pay increase that was already slated for 2019. we still have broad support in the congress for that pay increase, so we're hopeful and we are working every day to revive that in the new congress. pattern it is part of a where the politicians try to balance their books on the backs of federal workers. amy: heidi burakiewicz, can you

talk about the working people who are not being paid right now? from the airports, the busiest time, the holiday time, to the prisisons? > yes. the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, they both work for the federal bureau of prisons. they have extremely dangerous jobs over the last two years, the federal bureau of prisons has become incredibly understaffed, critically understaffed. so the people working dangerous jobs are also having to work excessive amounts of overtime. they're having to do it and they don't know when the shutdown is going to end, when they're going to get her next paycheck. i can't imagine what it is like to walk into a federal prison and not know if today is the day something that is going to happen, and also be worried about how i am going to pay my mortgage, when i'm going to get my next paycheck, how i am going to buy groceries for my kids. it is s not justst the federeral bureau of prisons.

it is tsa workers doing the busiest time of the year in the airports. federal law enforcement, federal firefighters -- all of the people who we think of as first responders. juan: david borer, assuming this thing is resolved soon, hopefully, or in the next week historicalt is the record in terms of how people are made whole? will congress pass a budget ledger lucian -- resolution that provides backpay to those who worked without pay as well as those who are furloughed? what has been the usual procedure? >> that's right. ourill work closely with key members of congress. in past shutdowns, they have adopted come along with the resolution to reopen government, funding for backpay for both those who are working without pay and for those who are furloughed through no fault of their own and sitting home with no prospect of their next

paycheheck. about who essential workers are and how it is decided who is forced to pay -- heidi, i would ask you about overtime. are workers who are not being paid right now also being forced to work overtime? so who gets furloughed and who has to work without pay? >> well, the employees whoho are determinined to be essential are literally just that. they are the essential people needed to keep our country functioning, to keep the rest of us say. as i mentioned before, the people that run the federal bureau of prisons. a proximally 120 federal prisons around the -- approximately 120 federal prisons are around the country. these aree people ababsolutely working to the shutdown without pay. and they are required to work overtime. one of the named plaintiffs in the case went t into work at 4:0

p.m. on new year's s eve expectg to get off at 12:00 a.m. because of the undnderstaffing,e ied to stay. amy: when you have understaffed prisons, you have leless safe prisons for the prisoners as well. >> absolutely. juan: david borer, this whole issue of this is a partial shutdown. many government agencies are functioning. we saw all of the press releases flights.'s recent and you talk about how the decision is made which agencies are being closed down and not funded and which continue to function? >> it is all about the appropriations process in congress. government orthe more than half, actually, is already funded separately

through congressional action that was approved at some point earlier that is still in effect. for example, you mentioned nasa. the social security administration, the v.a. -- those are all running as usual on the basis of funding that was approved separately at an earlier time. as it happened, the appropriations bill for the department of homeland security and some of these other departments -- agricultural and several others -- is what was expiring here at the end of the year, so those of the agencies now that are affected by this. juan: could you talk about this whole issue of constantly doing continuing resolutions and set of actually getting an annual budget approved so that both the agencies and their employees can have some sense of security in terms of their revenue streams?

>> i wish i had the solution for that. our politics are such that, you know, getting an actual governmentwide budget resolution passed and approved by the president has been virtually impossible for a long time. and so we have followed into ofs sort of bad habit operating the government on continuing resolutions. and that sets us up for each time the continuing resolution is about to expire, it is an invitation for the politicians to play games with their pet jeopardize the incomes and livelihoods of our workers. amy: i want to ask about the impact of the shutdown on the national parks. "the washington post" reporting --

"the los angeles times" repopoing parts s of yosemite nationalal park as people are jt using the ground as toilets have had toto be closed for pubublic safety reasons. heidi burakiewicz, if you could tatalk more about this and other workrkers around the country tht people might not think about. and though although you are suing on behalf of several workers like the dish federal workers like the prison workers, you have the private sector that serves the federal workers that usually go to work.

>> yes. while the federal employees that i represent, the federal workers that i know, they take great pride in their job and no one is happy whether it is the furloughed employees who are sitting at home who are not able to take care of the national parks or the people going to work because they are essential and doing a dangerous job. this is an example of dysfunction at its best. what we wanted the shutdown to end in people being able to get back to work, taking care of the park up in the rest of our country and know when they're going to get t the next paychec. amy: so what do you expect to come out of your lawsuit now? has the government responded? what do understand is happening at the meeting today between president trump and the republican and democratic legislative leaders? the lawsuit, the next step will be that the government will file a response. we don't expect anything to happen with a lawsuit in the

next day or two, for example. , however,derestimate that the federal workforce has already been severely harmed by the shutdown and how long it has lasted this far. they don't know when it is going to end and they don't know how to budget for their own finances because they don't know when they're going to get another paycheck. the creators of the flsa back in the depression made the decision that the workforce should be able to depend on when they're going to get her paychecks so they can scheduled her own finances, take care of their own affairirs. this is a blatatant violation of the law. as the judge said in our 2013 case, the government did not act in good faith when it did not take steps to make sure these workers are getting paid on time. juan: is the potential for damages on top of the back pay if this lawawsuit goes to an actual trial? >> absolutely. the flsa provides for liquidated or double damages.

and that is to compensate the employees for interest charges, , and theent fees stress they're going through now of not getting their pay on timeme. amy: david borer, your final comment as we go outut today and is trump prepares for this meeting, blaming the democrats, andicularly nancy pelosi charles schumer at the moment, and going into this meeting, though he said he would take the blame for this -- of course, he is now putting the blame on others. to, but wetempting view this as the trump shutdown. i think it is obvious to everyone the last and the was approved overwhelmingly in congress with a partisan support. it was unanimous in the senate. and that is such a rare thing, we should take note of that. the only holdup at this point is president trump. but if about his wall,

you could not get it through the republican congress, he is not going to get it through the democratic house. and it is time to let federal workers go back to work and pay them on time. amy: david borer, thank you for being with us, general counsel at afge. heidi burakiewicz is the lead attorney in a lawsuit suing the federal government on behalf of members of the american federation of government employees, or afge, and federal employees being forced to work without pay. thank you for being with us. when we come back, jair bolsonaro has been sworn in as the next president of the world's fourth largest democracy, brazil. we will speak with the man who lost to him about what brazil might look like. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to brazil, where far-right former army captain jair bolsonaro was sworn in as president of the world's fourth largest democracy on new year's day. >> i statate before everyone today, the day w when people wee liberated from sociaialism, this is our flag and it will never again be red. juan: bolsonaro was sworn in as brazil's 42nd president, marking

the most radical political shift brazil since military rule ended more than 30 years ago. many fear brazil's young democracy is now at risk. bolsonaro has announced brazil will withdraw from hosting this year's united nations climate change conference. this comes as environmentalists fear he will speed catastrophic climate change by opening up vast swaths of the amazon to agribusiness giants. brazil's new foreign minister, ernesto araujo, has described climate change as a plot by cultural marxists aiming to help china. amy: so far, bolsonaro has named five former military officials to serve in his cabinet. for years, bolsonaro has praised brazil's former military dictatorship, which ended just 33 years ago. he has also spoken in favor of torture and threatened to destroy, imprison, or banish his political opponents. human rights groups are also alarmed over bolsonaro's past comments about women and the lgbt community. he once told a female lawmaker she was too ugly to rape. he also said he would rather hear that his son had died in a

car crash than learn his son is gay. but bolsonaro has been warmly received by the trump administration. national security advisor john bolton described bolsonaro as a like-minded partner. bolton and bolsonaro met in rio in november where they reportedly talked about trade, israel, and cuba. during the meeting, bolton invited bolsonaro to come to washington. juan: on the economic front, jair bolsonaro has tapped an economist who was taught at the university of chicago to oversee his economic plan, which includes slashing pensions and the mass privatization of many state-run companies. the economist, paulo guedes, taught at the university of chile during the reign of general augusto pinochet. bolsonaro recently picked sergio moro to serve as justice minister. moro is the judge who convicted the former brazilian president luiz inacio lula da silva in a controversial corruption case that prevented lula from running for president in last year's election. this helped pave the wayay for

bolsonaro's victory. amy: lula remains imprisoned serving a 12-year sentence. well, democracy now! recently spoke with fernando haddad. him 55% to 45%. haddad is brazil's former minister of education and the former mayor of sao paulo, one of the largest cities in the world. i began by asking fernando haddad about the comparisons between bolsonaro and donald trump. is a tropical trump. they've a very common agenda and a very regressive agenda when it comes to civil rights, social rights, and environmental rights. standpoint,omic there is a major difference between the two of them. is adopting a regressive policy as regards

rights, but a neoliberal policy when it comes to economic policy. economy was of the trained at the university of chicago. his believe in that sort of thinking which was actually defeated by histotory f total liberalization. you talkeded about the massive state assets, particularly oil companies that are managed by the state today. well, next year there is likely to be a savage privatization of an unbounds and struggle against workers rights and social r rights in brazil. regarding the public budget that protects the poorest o of the pr and workers in relation to their employers. so from an economic standpoint,

there is a difference that should be noted. brazil is once again adopting a neoliberal agenda, very strong neoliberal agenda beyond what happened in the 1990's. amy: can you talk about the cabinet, the cabinet bolsonaro is putting together now, five former mililitary officialals serving in his cabinet praising the former military dictatorship? really unprecedented. , it is veryn brazil difficult to attain modern democracy with the appointment of so many military people as is going to happen in the future ministration of bolsosonaro. therefore, it isis in alliance externally align it with trump policies, highly ,egressive, as i've indicated from an economic standpoint, radicalized version of

neoliberalism. but i would also o draw attentin to bolsonaro's apprpreciation oa fundamental standpoint of customs. acrossery close to alyssum, which recently has been adopting visions hostile to political minorities in brazil, but even against majororities sh as blacks and women. there are hostile messages in his discourse. it would be very difficult without strong military support. to be consistent with this discourse of lifting up the ,ilitary dictatorship in brazil the dictatorshipips that extendd frfrom 1964 to 1985, bolsonaro s

whole life has been uplifting not only the dictatorship itself, but also the methods the dictatorship used to stay in power, including power. anchor he afraid to destroy, imprison, or banish political opponents. certainly, you would be chief among them. you ran against him for president. the man he was running agains before, lula, is in prison. are e you concerned? about there concerned consequences of bolsonaro's discourse on regular citizens and its impact on myself. because what is happening in brazil is regularolk, journalists, university are allrs, lgbt members filling ininsecure in brazil -- are all feeling insecure in brazil. -- i have sufficient

means to protect myself and those who get involved in politics in latin america nowadays cannot be afraid of anything because they really don't have a right to be afraid. my concern is with common citizens who may be suffering anguish at this time because of no assurance for their lives on the part of the state. this is the problem that brazil is facing. and the resistance will also be based on those persons because in brazil, the situation is complex. 45% of the voters that i won are going to organize and resist. brazil,ieve that in there will be, as there is in the united states, and organizing effort to defend rights they have defended for 200 years in the western world. rights -- well,

after 200 years of struggle, they can't just disappear. amy: new first came in today and i ask you what you are doing your in the united states, he said, well, trump has been in power for two years come you guys are preparing for bolsonaro. talk about that and what that means to you. look, i consider the trump administration to be serious backsliding in relation to what i believe is the objective of politics. the objective of politics is always to build scenarios in which horizons can be expanded evermore. any political action that is aimed at restricting individuals'horizons, is a regressive action in relation to the political values that i embrace. , is annaro, in that regard ally of trump.

he is a person who is constantly announcing restrictions on rights. and i would include environmental rights in that. to asee it, the right healthy environment is a human right because disrespecting the the future of futuree generationons, well, safeguauarg ththe authority of futuree generations for a healthy planet, is part of the expansion in western democracies for ourselves and for future generations. so i would like to understand what is happening in the united as a university professor, i first saw trump's victory because of the movements i was observing around the world. i'm a professor a perfect -- political science, but i believe that the united states has become a laboratory for us to isanize in opposition which not a position to the country,

but rather in favor of humanism, in favor of the human species, the spacef expanding for freedom and for the emancipation of each and every one of us. amy: president trump calls the media the enemy of the people. talk about the role of the media in brazil. also, in your campaign, running for president, who o is served. the media in brazil is very conservative. first of all, it is in the hands of just a few families. it is practically a cartel, the media. it operates ideologically as though it were a monopoly. though it is four or five families that dominate circulation of information in

an ideological standpoint, they are very much aligned with the same purpose. d'etat, thecoup media was consistent with it. in the 2016 coup that resulted in the impeachment, the media all acted with the single voice. it is as though they were all fox news. nothing really different from fox news in brazil. but we don't really have a plurality of opinions being voiced as the united states, so it is even tougher than here. , the incoming administration, the bolsonaro administration, criticizes the little bit that is left of effective journalism in brazil. the little bit that has remained in critical thought is the target of hostility by the incoming administration.

amy: bolsonaro calls media in brazil fake news, just like president trump calls the media here in this country. what impact do you think facebook had on the election? facebook owns the popular message site whatsapp that was widely used to distribute false news leading up to the election. whatsapp in brazil played a crucial role, a decisive role in the election. we have a two round election in brazil because we have many political parties. and so there are two rounds for the presidential election. until one week before the first round, all of the polls said that i would be winning in the projections for the second round. the polls said not only would i go to the second round, but i would likely win in the second round. now that ended in jujust a week.

triggering of false messages that used whatsapp. it is difficult in the second round to turn back or to undo the damage done in the last week ,f the first round of elections leading up to the first round of elections. what was behind all of this, the resources behind this, who are those who these actions. these occur not only in brazil, there are several specialists in the united states as well who have said that brazil, brerexit, trump, italy, are all part of a single process that might now occur in western europe. so the elections in western europe in the coming year and

issues such as climate, european up for- all of that is discussion, multilateralism. these are several issues that of the utmostd importance. and for those who would like to see a world in which there is no hegemony of one power or another, but rather spaces for people to organize more freely and to act democratically as actions, well, the dark of unknown groups is very worrisome, groups which, based the socialperate in networks. amy: let's talk about brazil's indigenous people. the amazon is about the environment and also about the indigenous people. bolsonaro once said it is a shame the brazilian calvary wasn't as efficient as the americans who exterminated their indians. fernando haddad?

you noted and quite rightly so, the indigenous question, the environmental question are intimately interconnected in brazil because the best way we have found to reserve our forests was precisely to preserve the indigenous reserves. there is an intntimate connectin the deforestation of the amazon that occur throughout the 20 century and the question of indigenous peoples rights to self-preservation. -- newe administration administration has announced it theoing to step out of climate agreement and stop demarcating indigenous lands, those two are completely interconnected. there is resistance to this in

brazil, even on the part of thee momost lucid leaders of agro business because the more lucid persons in agro business understand the sort of -- certification of our products depends on environmental certification, that our buyers will continue to be -- will not be attracted to us anymore if we don't maintain a commitment to the climate, part of those who buy present products are interested in knowing where those products come from and how they are being produced. contrary, to the gamble on deforestation to frontiere agricultural -- which is totatay unnecessssa. we have enouough open land to produce more without having to fell a single tree. might even be we

compromising our fororeign-poliy agenda. nor would we have any economic pain by this agenda proposed by bolsonaro. but there is a reaction in brazil he had announced he was when it do away with the ministry of ththe environment, that h he had to step back fromm that decision precisely because of the commitment to the -- on the part of a large part of our society. so we cannot consider anything lost. we have to resist all of those regressive proposals and clarify to society what it is at stake. because they are not even pointed out short-term economic gains from that proposal. amy: do you plan to run fofor president of brazil again? personal plane a will stop i always believed in

collective projects and plans. i think that over time, the forces that i belong to will be able to figure out who can best represent us. to thethat i answered desires of those forces in the last election, and hopefully, we will make a a good choice in 20. amy: have e you visited lula in jail? and how is he? >> always. attorney -- i am his attorney to this day. i act on his behalf in brazil id outside of brazil because really believe he was the target of an unfair trial. and i recognize that after the , he felt the pressure of history, you could say, with the electoral outcome. but he has the great capacity for regeneration.

it is not the first time he is in prison. he was imprisoned as a trade unionist in the 1980's -- i'm sorry, late 1970's. he lost his wife to canancer. he overcame a case of cancer. he was defeated three times before he was elected president. is of strength and being able to overcome, and i hope he overcomes the situation. formemerando haddad, workers party president. bolsonaro was sworn in on new year's day. that does it for our show. democracy now! has an immediate job opening for a full-time social media manager here in new york. resumes are being reviewed as received so apply online today. details at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning.

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