The far right-wing leader of Brazil, Jair Messias Bolsonaro voted out, and Lula da Silva wins in a victory in social justice and social democracy.
Brazil’s electoral authority announced Sunday night that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the country’s runoff presidential election. Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, ran his campaign promising to reunify Brazil. He defeated fascist Bolsonaro with 50.9% votes and becomes the new President of Brazil.
Brazil’s far-right president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro once defended his country’s brutal 21-year dictatorship. Brazil’s military dictatorship often referred to as “Brazil’s years of lead,” which lasted from 1964 to 1985, was a sad time when Brazilian politicians lost their mandates for political reasons (the generals decreed forfeiture of office), the media was censured and public demonstrations of opposition were repressed violently.
There was also an ugly underground where opponents of the military were tortured and killed.
Professor Octaviano Nogueira, who teaches history and political science at the University of Brasília, says the roughest period of military intervention was between 1964 and the beginning of the 1970s. “The repression was harsh at that time,” he says.
Bolsonaro while defending the dictatorship denied claims that he is a fascist, calling himself a Churchillian patriot determined to lead his crisis-stricken country “out of this quagmire”.
Winning by a narrow margin, in a sensational comeback, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva barely defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, following a tight run-off race on Sunday.
Brazilians Celebrate
The favelas in Rio celebrating the new President of Brazil!!! #LulaPresidente2022 pic.twitter.com/KngLtjRRF1
— NaNa (@nanamaia_) October 30, 2022
Que lindo a festa no Nordeste na hora da virada do Lula 😭🚩#Eleicoes2022 #LulaPresidente2022 pic.twitter.com/gfNri5mrV5
— Rhaina 1️⃣3️⃣🚩 (@RhaiThalia) October 30, 2022
Historic ❤️✊#LulaPresidente2022 pic.twitter.com/szxRSJbcF3
— Aishe (ঐশী) (@aishe_ghosh) October 31, 2022
Who is Lula da Silva?
Lula da Silva was born on He was born on October 27, 1945, to an uneducated farmer family. farm hands. The family moved to Sao Paulo when he was seven. He quit school after the second grade and started working to help his family. Lula’s first job at the age of 12 was that of a shoe shiner and street vendor.
He joined the labour movement and steadily rose through the ranks. Lula’s political career started in 1980, when he founded the left-wing Workers’ Party. He first ran for office in 1982, to become the governor of Sao Palo, but lost. Lula, as he is popularly known, launched his first bid to become Brazil’s working-class President in 1989 but it was unsuccessful. He lost two presidential bids – in 1994 and 1998 – before finally becoming successful in 2002.
Under his term, Lula helped millions escape poverty and helped Brazil secure the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. His presidency also built Brazil’s oil and ship-building industries, while its economy rose to the sixth-largest in the world. He was re-elected to the country’s top post in 2006 but refused to run for a third consecutive term. Lula left power in 2010 with approval ratings of 90 percent after which his party became embroiled in a string of corruption scandals. Lula’s successor Dilma Rousseff was impeached in 2016.
Lula too was convicted in 2017 of corruption and jailed a year later to 9-1/2 years in prison. The charges were quashed last year, and the former president was released, enabling him to run for the presidency.
Lula has pledged to attract foreign investment by restoring Brazil’s credibility as a steward of the Amazon rainforest, where Jair Bolsonaro let deforestation soar to a 15-year high. After losing his first wife to a stroke while he was in prison, Lula remarried last year to sociologist Rosangela da Silva, known as Janja.
Congratulations Pour out for Lula
Finally Amazon has been saved.
Congratulations Brazil 🇧🇷! Change is Possible!
— Licypriya Kangujam (@LicypriyaK) October 31, 2022
Lula has been re-elected president in Brazil. His victory is a victory for the BRICS, for multipolarism, diplomacy, and the Global South.
— Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) October 31, 2022
Congratulations @LulaOficial 🇧🇷
For indigenous communities and the Amazon rainforest. For democracy and for the planet. #Lula #Brazil pic.twitter.com/a0w7tE6HXb
— Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) October 31, 2022
The outcome of the Brazilian election presents an opportunity to change the course of history, not just for Brazil & the Amazon, but for the world.
(📷: João Paulo Krajewski) pic.twitter.com/twRASHWg2G— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) October 30, 2022
Today, the people of Brazil have voted for democracy, workers’ rights and environmental sanity. I congratulate Lula on his hard fought victory and look forward to a strong and prosperous relationship between the United States and Brazil. https://t.co/jWQN2uPQfP
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 30, 2022
Rahul Gandhi Congress leader from India.
Congratulations to the people of Brazil. This is a victory of the poor, the working class, and the marginalised – a victory of social justice.
My best wishes to President-elect, Lula da Silva.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 31, 2022
The voice of democracy and socialism calling for equality of the people has spoken.