LEFTIST LULA TO LEAD BRAZIL
Jair Bolsonaro not re-elected
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has ousted President Jair Bolsonaro after a divisive four years in office.
Right-winger Bolsonaro endorsed policies that accelerated the destruction of the Amazon rainforest; exacerbated the pandemic in Brazil; and became a polarising figure for his attacks on the media and democratic institutions.
He’s the first incumbent president in Brazil’s 34-year democracy not to win a reelection, but Da Silva just squeaked in – he won 50,83% of the vote, which analysts say points to the depth of the political divide in the nation.
Da Silva is a former union leader who led Brazil between 2002 and 2010. He was convicted on corruption charges after his presidency and jailed for 580 days.
His convictions were later quashed on the grounds that he was unfairly tried by rightwing judge Sergio Moro, who later took a job in Bolsonaro’s cabinet.
His return to power follows a series of left-wing wins in Latin America, after Colombians elected Gustavo Petro, their first leftist president, Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, who offered a “big hug” to Lula, and tweeted, “Long live the peoples determined to be free, sovereign and independent! Today in Brazil democracy triumphed”.