Brazil, Lula wins: the party of supporters in the street

Brazil’s new president is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula won the poll against incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro with 50.83% of the vote. A tightrope victory, given that Bolsonaro obtained 49.17% of the vote. In total: 59,596,247 for the left-wing candidate, 57,675,427 for outgoing President Bolsonaro. Just under two million votes divide the two candidates, but it takes a lot for Lula to become president of South America’s largest economy for the third time.

Brazil has never been so divided: on the one hand, the irrepressible celebration of Lula supporters. On the other, the silence of Bolsonaro supporters. In Brazil’s second-largest metropolis, Rio de Janeiro, people flocked to the beach to throw a huge all-night party. Even in working-class neighborhoods, like the favelas on the city’s hills, exultation erupts as fireworks light up the Brazilian sky.

Brazil, Lula wins: fight against hunger and protection of the Amazon rainforest

Among the objectives that the new Brazilian government will pursue, according to Lula himself, there will be the commitment against hunger: “If we are the third largest food producer in the world and the first meat producer, we have a duty to ensure what every Brazilian can have breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. We cannot accept as normal that entire families are forced to sleep on the streets,” Lula said. Second major objective: the preservation of the Amazonian forest: “Fight against the climate crisis and for zero deforestation in the Amazon. The planet needs a living Amazon: a standing tree is worth more than tons of illegally mined wood. Wealth can be generated without destroying the environment.” Finally, the quote from Pope Francis: “The Pope sent a message to Brazil praying for the people to be freed from hatred, intolerance and violence. mean that we want the same thing, that truth prevails over lies and that hope is greater than fear.”