Silvio Simonetti

Silvio Simonetti is a Brazilian lawyer, graduated in international affairs from the Bush School at Texas A & M University. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Acton Institute. Silvio loves history and the Catholic Church.

Posts by Silvio Simonetti

November 14, 2018

The intellectual maverick behind Brazil’s conservative wave

The recent victory of the conservative populist Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential elections brought the name of the philosopher Olavo de Carvalho to the center of Brazilian political debate. Many have since stated that Carvalho is an intellectual precursor to the populist candidate – as someone who was able to reshape the Brazilian political discussion in ways that cleared an intellectual path for Bolsonaro’s electoral victory. Continue Reading...
November 07, 2018

An urgent agenda for Bolsonaro in Brazil

Once we get beyond the myths surrounding the long presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we soon recognize that one of FDR’s successes was to establish a myriad of symbols that captured the imagination of world politics. Continue Reading...
November 01, 2018

Bolsonaro versus Brazil’s elites

In his book Sovereignty (1955), the French philosopher Bertrand de Jouvenel observed that one of the significant phenomena in the construction of the modern state was the concentration of the means of communication in the hands of a few. Continue Reading...
October 29, 2018

The slow death of liberation theology in Brazil

The Sandinista Revolution (1979 – 1990), which sought to transform Nicaragua into a new Cuba, was well-known for many things, including the way in which it highlighted the new alliance between the Latin American Communist movements and liberation theologians. Continue Reading...
October 26, 2018

How Christian Marxism took root in Brazil

1968 was a year of intense change for the world. Anyone who lived it may have thought the world was being engulfed by the waters of revolution.  Across the world, students took to the streets promising to destroy the political system. Continue Reading...
October 15, 2018

Understanding Bolsonaro

When Jair Messias Bolsonaro walked into TV Cultura’s studio in July, no one had any idea of ​​the political tsunami that would engulf Brazil 90 days later. The “Roda Viva” is the oldest talk show on Brazilian television; a group of eight journalists sit on a wheel-shaped bench and in the center lies the interviewee. Continue Reading...
October 12, 2018

YouTube powers Brazil’s conservative Catholic wave

Father Paulo Ricardo is a very sympathetic man. Always smiling, he is tall, thin, and balding. His austere appearance reminds us of priests portrayed in the films of the 1960s. Father Paulo could easily pretend to be Dom Camilo, the wise Italian priest created by Giovannino Guareschi and immortalized in the cinema by the brilliant French actor Fernandel. Continue Reading...