After a hard fought campaign, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leader of The Brazilian Worker’s Party, has prevailed over Right Wing authoritarian and “Trump of the Tropics” Jair Bolsonaro by nearly 2% of the total vote, 50.8 – 49.1.
That translates to a two million vote margin for the 77 year old Lula, whose first Presidency (2013-2010) saw a dramatic decrease in child hunger as well as huge investments in water purification, as well as in housing for the poor.
Such an outcome in the next six years would certainly be a big improvement over Bolsonaro’s attempts to destroy the Amazon Rain Forest.
“Brazil’s former leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has sealed an astonishing political comeback, beating the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in one of the most significant and bruising elections in the country’s history.
With 99% of votes counted, Silva, a former factory worker who became Brazil’s first working-class president exactly 20 years ago, had secured 50.8% of the vote. Bolsonaro, a firebrand who was elected in 2018, received 49.1%.
Addressing journalists at a hotel in São Paulo, Lula vowed to reunify his country after a toxic race for power which profoundly divided one of the world’s largest democracies.
“We are going to live new times of peace, love and hope,” said the 77-year-old, who was sidelined from the 2018 election that saw Bolsonaro claim power after being jailed on corruption charges that were later annulled.”
While we all hope for such a happy future, the would-be dictator Bolsonaro might have different ideas…
“The speed of the international reaction reflected widespread fears that Bolsonaro, a former army captain who has spent years attacking Brazil’s democratic institutions, might refuse to accept defeat. In the lead up to the election he indicated he would contest a result he considered “abnormal”.
And we all know what “abnormal” means to autocrats in South America as well as North, abnormal would be any election they lose.
Still, political leaders across South and Central America, Europe as well as our own President Biden hasten to congratulate Lula, attempting to warn off Bolsonaro and his supporters in the military and police from any less than democratic actions.
Of course the usual shit-heels here in the U.S. are stirring the pot…
Steve Bannon says the Brazil election was stolen from Bolsonaro. Shocker. pic.twitter.com/1dby7YgaE7
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 30, 2022
But not without some pushback from what is left of liberal Twitter:
Maybe when Bannon gets done serving his prison sentence in the US he can go to Brazil and serve one there too. 😁
— kdunnez (@_The_Phantom_1_) October 30, 2022
Excellent idea.
I suppose all we can do is wait a couple of days to see how things shake out, we can hope for the best.
And we can certainly offer our hearty thanks to President-elect Lula, who took down one of the biggest bullies remaining in power in the hemisphere.
Good work.
Lula win is so important, voters tossed the authoritarian, like the US did in 2020. Maybe democracy is okay for another day.