Apocalypse in the Tropics

7/31/2026

There's one line here from the very successful television evangelist Silas Malafaia along the lines of why can't he politicise the teachings of Christ in the same way that others do with those of Karl Marx - and it's a point that is well illustrated in the documentary. For some he is a charismatic and dangerous rabble-rouser, but for many others he is the voice of Jesus empowering the ordinary and disenfranchised population to pray to God and seize control - democratically - of their congress and their presidency. It's Jair Bolsonaro who is the beneficiary of his support, but he is just the most recent in a long line of powerful Brazilian politicians who have benefitted from the patronage of this wealthy and characterful orator. The establishment is somewhat more resistant to his charms th