Brazil: Leaders across the globe, including those of the United States, France, and other Western and Latin American nations have greeted Brazil’s new President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured a tight victory over incumbent far-right Jair Bolsonaro.
Before the very contentious election, Bolsonaro questioned the voting procedure and suggested that if he lost, he might not accept the results. However, US President Joe Biden’s remarks, in which he congratulated Lula “following free, fair, and credible elections,” firmly endorsed the credibility of the result.
The election gained world attention because the future of the Amazon rainforest and its effects on the urgent global climate disaster are at risk. Brazil is one of the biggest democracies in the world, with 156 million registered voters.
Pedro Sánches, the Prime Minister of Spain, stated that Brazil “decided to bet on progress and hope.”
In 2002, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula, was elected as the nation’s first president from the working class. Having approval ratings close to 90 percent, he left office after serving two terms in 2010. He was imprisoned in 2018 on corruption-related allegations and disqualified from standing in the race, which Bolsonaro went on to win.
After 580 days, Lula was released, and his charges were overturned on the grounds that Sergio Moro, a right-wing judge who eventually joined Bolsonaro’s cabinet, had unfairly judged him.
Gustavo Petro, who was elected as Colombia’s first leftist president, simply tweeted “Long live Lula.” Later, he posted a chart demonstrating that the vast majority of Latin American nations now have socialist leaders.
Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also from the left, tweeted: “Lula won, blessed people of Brazil. There will be equality and humanism.”
Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, also gave Lula a “big hug” and tweeted,