Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been elected as Brazil’s president, beating the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro with 50.9% to 49.1% of the votes in yesterday’s (30th) runoff vote. The victory is more significant as Lula da Silva, the left-wing politician, was languishing in a jail cell just three years ago.
Lula, a former union leader, was previously president between 2003 and 2010. Da Silva and Bolsonaro were the two top finishers in a first round of presidential voting on Oct. 2 that featured 11 candidates. But neither da Silva nor Bolsonaro secured more than half the votes required for an outright victory, forcing yesterday’s runoff election.
Lula has promised to increase the minimum wage and jump-start the economy, which has been flagging since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Brazil and caused nearly 700,000 deaths – the world’s second-highest death toll after the U.S. He has also pledged to protect the Amazon rainforest after deforestation hit a 15-year high under Bolsonaro.
His victory will help consolidate a leftward shift in Latin America where, from Mexico to Argentina, the biggest countries are run by leftist presidents.
