The result was welcomed, in many cities including Rio de Janeiro, by celebrations with fireworks, as if most of the country was waiting for nothing but to leave behind the years of "Lulism", marked by judicial scandals, by an economy that never took off and – especially in recent times – by a dramatic rise in crime. Jair Messias Bolsonaro, 63, a former military man and candidate with a far-right party, is now the new president of Brazil: he overtook his rival Fernando Haddad, Lula's heirloom and candidate of the Workers' Party, the left-wing formation that governed the first South American economy for over a decade, in the decisive ballot. The verdict, as it was in the air according to the polls in recent weeks, it has also been quite clear: Bolsonaro obtained around 55,5% of the preferences (equal to over 55 million votes), against 44,5% for Haddad.
The biggest change in political direction since the redemocratization of Brazil in 1985, commented the main green and gold newspapers. At the time, the South American country was emerging from a ferocious military dictatorship, which is now somewhat topical again, given that Bolsonaro, who attended the military academy as a young man, has repeatedly expressed himself in nostalgic tones towards that regime, even arguing on occasion that the military – as well as the police today – should have been even more ruthless in repressing opponents. Disturbing intentions that add to those expressed in the months of the electoral campaign, inspired by male chauvinism, homophobia and misogynism. Thus a right close to the armed forces returns to power in Brazil (Bolso's deputy will be General Hamilton Mourao), whom the country's newspapers define as liberal in economics but conservative in morals. Of what to remember the recipes of Donald Trump in the United States and in a certain sense those of the League in Italy. With a common denominator to these three electoral triumphs: the presence, more or less behind the scenes, of the communication guru (and right-wing extremist) Steve Bannon.
However, the rampant result prohibits reducing Bolsonaro's victory to a protest vote, or to the reactionary impulses of the white and wealthy population of the South, or even to the lobby of the big landowners, who couldn't wait to close with the nationalization phase and social welfare. The North-East, the poorest area of the country, has remained faithful to Lula and his party, but it is not only the "rich whites" (the white population in Brazil is less than 50% of the total) who have favorite Bolsonaro, whose success was transversal, as demonstrated by the excessive celebrations in many cities in Brazil, including Curitiba, right in front of the headquarters of the barracks where Lula is being held. It was, in reality, a sort of green-and-gold "Vaffa Day", which also involved many young people, fed up with rampant crime and worried about the possibility of seeing Brazil transform into a new Venezuela. Bolsonaro was the right man in the right place. The man of order, the man of the Church (he was openly supported by the Evangelist Church), the man of the possible economic revival.
