He narrowly won, Lula. For just over 2 million votes, out of the total of approximately 120 million votes cast by Brazilian voters in the ballot of elezioni prezidenziali: 60,3 million (50,9%) for the 77-year-old former trade unionist, former president from 2003 to 2011 and 58,2 million (49,1%) for outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro, who thus becomes the first in the history of Brazil to miss the appointment with the second term. Instead, the leader of the Workers' Party will once again lead the first economy in South America, undermined under the Bolsonaro presidency not only by the pandemic and social tensions, but also by a worrying slowdown in growth, not to mention inflation and unemployment at record levels.
BRAZIL, LULA'S FIRST SPEECH AFTER THE VOTE: "THE VICTORY IS NOT MINE BUT OF THE IMMENSE DEMOCRATIC MOBILIZATION"
Shortly after the outcome of the polls, Lula presented himself on Avenida Paulista St. Paul, awaited by millions of cheering sympathizers: visibly felt with emotion and with a faint voice, he made a speech marked by social cohesion and national unity, after a season of very strong divisions: "The victory is not mine, but of an immense democratic mobilization – said Lula -. There are no two Brazils, I will work to reconcile the country”. Lula's triumph even contains a paradox: he won by the narrowest margin since Brazil returned to being a democracy in the 80s, but on this occasion he was the most voted president ever. By surpassing 60 million votes, he broke his own record from 2006, when he defeated Alckmin (who will now be his deputy) with 58,3 million votes. And he has also written a page of history: at the age of 77, after having spent almost two years in prison for a sentence which was later annulled, he is the first president brazilian to get the third term.
BRAZIL, LULA WILL ENTER INTO OFFICE ON JANUARY 2023, XNUMX
On Avenida Paulista, the former union leader, who will take office on 1 January 2023, exactly 20 years after the first time, reiterated the cornerstones of the Lula Agenda: the fight against inequalities, against hunger which has returned to fear (in Brazil according to the UN there are 33 million people who do not have regular access to food), against the deforestation of the Amazon which under Bolsonaro has advanced to appalling levels. Lula's intervention was also of international scope: he pledged to bring Brazil back to the center of the Western community, from which it was isolating itself under the sovereign presidency of Bolsonaro. Lula spoke of "re-industrializing the country, focusing on the green and digital economy", keywords that we are used to hearing in Italy thanks to the Pnrr and the so-called energy and digital transitions, which the new Brazilian president seems to be inspired by, bringing your country back to horizons of sustainable development and international relations. It is no coincidence that his election is also welcomed by the financial markets.
Lula then winked at the religious world, first thanking God at the opening of the rally, then quoting Jesus and Pope Francis, who just a few days ago had sent a message to the Brazilian people to free themselves from hatred and intolerance: in Brazil the Church, especially the evangelical one, is very powerful, and already in the campaign the candidate of the left had played the religious card, signing a commitment not to liberalize abortion, which is still a taboo in the South American country. Just as it could be taboo to restore harmony to the largest country in Latin America: Bolsonaro obtained over 49% of the votes, winning in 14 out of 27 states, a sign that Bolsonarism it is now well established, and has also brought home the governors of the two most important states, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, as well as a large representation in the Federal Congress who will be ready to throw the government off its feet at the first useful opportunity. “Brazilians have chosen more democracy, not less,” confides Lula.
