Brazil's Lula da Silva: A Victory of an Immense Democratic Movement

EPISODE: Brazil’s Lula da Silva: A Victory of an Immense
Democratic Movement


GUEST: Michael Fox who is an independent journalist and the
podcast host of Brazil on Fire a NACLA and Real News production


BACKGROUND


Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was elected the next president of
Brazil, in a stunning comeback following a tight run-off race on
Sunday, October 30. His victory is one of an Immense
Movement returning democracy to Latin America’s largest country,
after four years of Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right administration.


The 76-year-old politician’s win represents the return of the
left into power in Brazil, and concludes a triumphant personal
comeback for Lula, after a series of corruption allegations lead
to his imprisonment for 580 days. The sentences were later
annulled by the Supreme Court, clearing his path to run for
reelection.


“They tried to bury me alive and I’m here,” he said in a jubilant
speech last Sunday.


He will take the reins of a country plagued by gross inequality
that is still struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Approximately 9.6 million people fell under the poverty line
between 2019 and 2021, and literacy and school attendance rates
have fallen. He will also be faced with a deeply fractured nation
and urgent environmental issues, including rampant deforestation
in the Amazon.


This will be Lula’s third term, after previously governing Brazil
for two consecutive terms between 2003 and 2010.


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ADDITIONAL LINKS:


Brazil on Fire


Latin America's Turbulent Transitions: The Future of Twenty-First
Century Socialism





WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean is a Popular
Resistance broadcast in partnership with CODEPINK, Common
Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of
Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central
America, Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force
on the Americas,