Lula’s Victory, Bolsonaro’s Defeat

Written by Ciara Perez

November 7, 2022

On Sunday, October 30th, leftist candidate Luiz Lula won the presidential election by an incredibly small margin of 50.1% to Bolsonaro’s 49.1%. Jair Bolsonaro did not speak publicly for two days after the election results. When he did address the public on Tuesday, he agreed to transfer power to Lula.  

The next day, tens of thousands of Brazilians gathered outside of military bases across the country, calling for military intervention “to save Brazil’s democracy from a rigged election”. They’re calling for a new election. Protestors set up highway blockades, creating miles-long backups and disrupting transportation and freight. The blockades have caused more than 60 miles of traffic jams, the cancellation of flights, the cancellation of buses, and fuel shortages.  This does not come as a surprise, as Bolsonaro has been preaching election fraud within the electronic voting system for months leading up to the vote.  

“The military, which helped oversee the election, found no signs of fraud” and have not considered intervening in the transfer of power. If the protests gain more momentum, they may seek support from Bolsonaro to urge his supporters to go home.

Lula has promised to “end hunger, zero tolerance for deforestation in the Amazon…and restore democracy to Brazil”. He will overturn many of Bolsonaro’s policies, including pro-gun measures, and plans to restore Brazil’s leadership on climate change. Lula’s victory “will help consolidate a leftward shift in Latin America where, from Mexico to Argentina, the biggest countries are run by leftist presidents”.