VOA新闻杂志2023--Neo-Nazi Groups Rise in Brazil

Neo-Nazi¹ Groups Rise in Brazil

Last November, Andrea Muller was organizing an event for Haitian immigrants in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Just hours before the event, she received a frightening message.

"Cancel the Haiti exhibition or we will commit a massacre²," read the subject line of the email, seen by Reuters.

"Santa Catarina is a land of WHITE PEOPLE, FOR WHITE PEOPLE," the unnamed sender wrote. They signed off with the Nazi salute³ "SIEG HEIL."

The event went ahead without any problems and with police present. But the email is a sign of a small but rising number of cases of neo-Nazism⁴ in Brazil. The cases have increased after far-right politics strengthened during former President Jair Bolsonaro's 2019-2023 term.

Bolsonaro was widely criticized for his defense⁵ of Brazil's military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. Critics say his anti-democratic attacks on the country's voting system in last year's election endangered the country's native people.

Brazil's 1989 racism⁶ law punishes the use of symbols connected to Nazism such as the swastika. Speech considered "apologies for the regime of Adolf Hitler" is not protected under freedom of speech laws in Brazil.

The police force said it has opened 21 investigations⁷ into the production, sale, sending or showing of swastikas so far this year. That is up from just one in 2018, the year Bolsonaro was elected.

Some experts say the problem is worse than the numbers show. In two school attacks this year, the suspects wore armbands with Nazi swastikas.

Researchers at Sao Paulo state's Unicamp University have found that the number of neo-Nazi groups in Brazil has increased more than 10 times since 2015. The Unicamp researchers said Bolsonaro had "fueled" the rise of such groups.

Guilherme Franco de Andrade is an expert on the far right at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul. He said neo-Nazism was clearly a growing problem but did not place all the blame on the former president. Instead, he said its growth was more likely tied to growing conservatism after years of corrupt⁸ leftist administrations.

"To credit Bolsonaro directly with any leadership ... is a mistake," he said.

Southern hate

The problem of neo-Nazism is especially bad in Santa Catarina. That is a state where many have German and Italian ancestry⁹. The state has the largest proportion of white residents in Brazil, with 84 percent.

Arthur Lopes leads investigations into neo-Nazi groups. In November, Lopes' team arrested eight suspected neo-Nazis who called themselves Crew 38. Several of the men were tattooed¹¹ with Nazi symbols and English phrases like "White Power."

During the raid, Lopes' team found red, white, and black flags, and T-shirts with the symbol of the Hammerskins, a group connected to an American neo-Nazi organization. There were also recordings¹² of what Lopes called "white supremacist bands." Lopes said he suspects they were selling them to Hammerskins groups in the United States and Europe.

Lopes said charging those connected to Nazism can be difficult under Brazilian law, which he called "weak" and "outdated¹³." The use of symbols other than the swastika that refer to the Nazi regime generally goes unpunished.

Words in This Story

massacre — n. the violent killing¹⁴ of many people

salute — n. an act or ceremony that shows respect for someone

symbol — n. an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality

swastika — n. a symbol in the form of a cross with its ends bent¹⁵ at right angles all in the same direction

regime — n. a form of government

tattoo¹⁰ — n. a picture, word, etc., that is drawn on a person's skin by using a needle and ink

1 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

2 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

3 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

4 Nazism   

n. 纳粹主义

参考例句：

• His philosophical eyes were obviously shortsighted by the evil influence of Nazism. 显然，他那双哲学家般的深邃的眼睛也被纳粹的妖氛所眩惑。 来自中国文学部分
• Nazism suppressed all three movements as degenerate. 纳粹把所有三个运动都作为颓废艺术而加以镇压。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

9 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

10 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

11 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

13 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。