Lesser of two evils wins Brazil's election

In a win for the Amazon rainforest and a defeat for the rising tide of far-right extremism and authoritarianism, incumbent president Bulsonoro was defeated by challenger Lula.

...Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is set to become the next president of Brazil, after defeating his rightwing rival, incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, by a razor-thin margin.

The leftist former leader, widely known as “Lula,” won 50.90% of the votes, with over 99% of the votes counted...

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Pretty awesome! I can't imagine any sensible person supporting Bolsonaro, though I wonder what some of the right-wing folks on here have to say given his close relationship with Trump.

Can't say I know much about Lula, though I do know he is not as bad as Bolsonaro, and does not want to destroy the Amazon.

Of course, this might be far from over: Bolsonaro is what many consider to be the "South American Trump", so we can likely expect to see a lot of doubt sown over the election, especially due to the narrow margin of victory.

Any Brazilians on here? Curious what you think.

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Rant and stuff:

Now, why might this be considered a victory for Brazil, the Amazon, and humanity in general?

Well, for starters, Bolsonaro has been destroying the Amazon rain forest, which act as "the lungs of the world", to put it romantically. It's ability to trap carbon dioxide is unrivaled in many ways, and it plays a critical role in the world's atmosphere.

Sadly, as it is cut down, the soil can undergo desertification; the thin topsoil is not replenished, dries out, and is blown away to reveal the sand underneath; this process is irreversible, as is shown with the Sahara which used to be a forest as well.

Lula is also good for the people of Brazil:

Lula da Silva was president for two terms, from 2003 to 2006 and 2007 to 2011, where he led the country through a commodities boom that helped fund huge social welfare programs and lifted millions out of poverty.

He left office with a 90% approval rating – a record tarnished however by Brazil’s largest corruption probe, dubbed “Operation Car Wash,” which led to charges against hundreds of high-ranking politicians and businesspeople across Latin America. He was convicted for corruption and money laundering in 2017, but a court threw out his conviction in March 2021, clearing the way for his political rebound.

Corruption probe aside, he seems to have a good record and high approval rating. However, I do find it odd that they are allowed to run for so many terms. This might be a case of needing someone they know can one and defeat Bolsonaro.

I have plenty of close friends from Brazil being from a neighbor country. The feeling I get from them was there were no good options.

Lula is well known for acts of corruption and ended upkñ in jail as a result of that.

Bolsonaro is just crazy and is an idiot.

So either way, nothing good happens.

Yeah, I worded the topic title for that very reason.

Did your friends go into further detail? Kind of curious what their impressions are. I mean, is Lula the lesser of two evils, or is he essentially just as bad? From what I gather he was actually cleared of the corruption charges, though that might have just been from corruption lol

Nothing is bad as bolsonaro other than a military dictatorship or a drug state.

Having said so, bolsonaro or a bolsonaro like leader will come back. The problem that created bolsonaro (the huge crime and insecurity problem) has not been addressed. And until that is the case people will go for the emotional solution to crime.

@nirgal: yes, Brazil is ripe for a "strong man" takeover.

This is why we saw a lot of police suppressing voter rights in Brazil during this election. Literally coming on busses with people going to vote and telling them to vote for Bolsonaro. A crime narrative means police get paid more, get taken care of.

The crime and violence narrative is something that far-right folks peddle in both the US and Brazil, and much of the world for that matter; however, unlike Brazil, the issue is far less severe in the US outside of some hotspots, though you wouldn't know it. Brazil really does seem to have a problem with it.

In Brazil the problem is huge

It's not a narrative.

People loose family members to this.

Oh I know, I've read stories.

Wasn't trying to diminish the severity by calling it a narrative, just using the the word to convey the problem can be used to sway voters.

BrunoBRS is Brazilian. But I dont think he posts here anymore.

And this is good news. Lula may have been corrupt, but he was a competent leader. Bolsonaro, was another emotionally driven strong man. Good riddance to him.

Happy for Lula's victory. Keep in mind that the judge who led the process against Lula was a Bolsonaro supporter and ended up being part of his government too.

Brazil reels at claims judge who jailed Lula collaborated with prosecutors | Brazil | The Guardian

Bolsonaro appoints judge who helped jail Lula to lead justice ministry | Brazil | The Guardian

Not that the man is a saint, but he did do an incredible job in his past mandates.

Bolsonaro is a trash level human being and the first Brazilian president to fail re-election. Let's see what the next couple of months will bring. I expect Trump levels of destructive behaviour, probably worse.

But just like Trump, it's great that he suffered a humiliating defeat but... the gates for this new crypto fascist wave are now open.

Welcome to every election there ever is. Voting for least of the worst.

Ever is, or ever was...hopefully some day people will vote for their ideals and interests, and not vote by emotion or by party.

I vote by ideology/policies.

I believe it.

I wish more people voted that way.

Or, more specifically, more people on the moderate and right side did. If they just stopped and thought about it for a few minutes and ignored the circus, looked at the factual bullet points of policy and records, they'd vote differently I bet.

Well Brazil like many countries has a second round with only the top two options if no candidate reaches percentage minimum.

So you are almost always voting the less bad choice even if in the first round you voted for your preferred candidate.

This system usually weeds out the extreme candidates by pitting then against a single opponent that eats all the moderate votes.

But sometimes it doesn't work.

that is true to. which sucks none the less.

So Bolsonaro still didn't congratulate the opponent or conceded defeat. No doubt this will be interesting to follow. I'm expecting at best MAGA levels of denial.

@girlusocrazy: Finally he admitted defeat. Thankfully his party leadership did step up, same for some members of his government ,who also came publicly to admit defeat.

Also, Bolsonaro asked for an audience with the Brazilian supreme court and they declared that they wouldn't even listen to him unless he conceded first.

Good to see those around him not allowing a shit show similar to Trump and the MAGAs. Isolating him was a good way to put pressure on him.

Hopefully the country can start to heal. These fake patriots who thrive on division are a cancer.

Credit where credit is due, he even asked his fanbase to stop their rioting because Bolsonaro didnt win.