69 FIDES, Natal, V. 10, n. 2, jul./nov. 2019. THE CURRENT ENIGMA OF BRAZIL Henrique André Ramos Wellen 1 ABSTRACT Originated from some questions of British academics (mainly from the University of Kent) about the Brazilian political reality, it was sought, based on historical and social elements, to analyse the presidential election of 2018. This text, which was presented in November 2018 in a seminar in Canterbury, has, in addition to the introduction and the final considerations, three parts: a brief history of the Brazilian formation, an analysis of the capitalist crisis and the previous governments, and an approach of the political manipulations carried out through social networks. Finally, the fascist leitmotiv of the Bolsonaro´s campaign was also analysed, problematizing its nuances in a dependent and underdeveloped country. Keywords: Brazilian elections. Dependent capitalism. Fascism. Financial capital. Media manipulation. 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Pós-doutor em Teoria Política pela University of Kent. Doutor em Serviço Social pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Mestre em Gestão e Políticas Públicas na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). Graduado em Administração de Empresas e em Administração Pública pela Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). Professor de graduação e pós-graduação em Serviço Social e colaborador com a pós-graduação em Gestão Pública e Sociedade da UNIFAL.