The 2022 Brazilian Elections: A Perspective
For as long as I can remember, the Brazilian Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores — PT), led by its founder and re-elected Brazilian president, Luis Inácio Lula Da Silva, was the dominant party within the Brazilian political sphere. Throughout most of my childhood, politics was hardly present in any conversation, while now it seems to be the primary topic of discussion at any family dinner, barbershop, café, or bar.
The polarization of Brazilian Politics is most certainly a fallout of the events following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in 2016. The election of Jair Bolsonaro into the presidential office signaled a rightward push by the Brazilian electorate; the decision being a byproduct of public resentment towards the Workers’ Party for its alleged involvement in a corruption scandal identified and reviewed through the Lava Jato (Car Wash) investigation.
Deemed the “Trump of the Tropics”, Bolsonaro initially entered the world of politics in 1989, shortly after serving as captain in the Brazilian army. Bolsonaro has a long history of supporting the military dictatorship that ruled over Brazil from 1964–1985. This was a time when electoral rights were suspended, all forms of media experienced censorship, and many were subject to imprisonment, exile, torture, and murder.
Bolsonaro has also maintained his socially conservative position throughout his career, opposing access to abortion in all cases, perpetuating homophobia, and defending punitive practices used during the time of military autocracy such as executions by firing squad and torture. His famous slogan, “Brasil acima de tudo e Deus acima de todos” (“Brazil above everything and God above all”) reaffirms his commitment to protecting the traditional family and Christian values, values which stand out to a large percentage of religiously devout Brazilians.
As a federal congressman representing the state of Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro proposed a total of 171 projects to the chamber. Two laws and one amendment of the 171 were approved during his 26 years of service. During his 2018 presidential candidacy, a social media movement led by the women of Brazil, titled “#EleNão” (#NotHim), sparked a series of worldwide protests against Bolsonaro. He also suffered an attempt on his life during this time, preventing him from participating in televised debates against his opponents.
With 55.13% of all votes in the national runoff elections, Bolsonaro’s presidential victory in 2018 marked the beginning of an era full of controversies, resignations, and extreme polarization in the Brazilian government. Most Brazilians, regardless of political affiliation, agree that the last four years have been very difficult for the nation.
Nearing almost 700 thousand deaths, the lives lost to COVID-19 under the Bolsonaro regime are the second highest in the world, falling short only to the United States under President Trump. Brazil’s poor pandemic response can be traced back to Bolsonaro’s lack of cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), spreading false information about vaccines and mask use as well as endorsing the use of drugs with no proven efficacy against the virus such as Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine.
When it comes to the environment, especially considering the Amazon Rainforest and its significance to the global ecosystem and a more sustainable future, Bolsonaro’s administration failed to take ambitious steps in the fight against illegal logging and deforestation. During the beginning years of his term, Bolsonaro disassembled environmental agencies and turned a blind eye to the increasing rates of deforestation in states encapsulating the greater Amazon region. His presidential term also oversaw a 59.5% increase in deforestation rates nationwide, a figure significantly higher than that of all previous governments since the end of the dictatorship.
Bolsonaro’s opponent in the 2022 presidential election was none other than Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly referred to as ‘Lula’ by the Brazilian population. His upbringing and insertion into the political sphere of Brazil differs immensely from that of his adversary: With very little formal education and a humble background, Lula began his career as a Unionist Leader in São Paulo and led demonstrations against the military regime, (a highly illegal practice at the time). After gaining influence among the working class and being arrested for a short while, Lula began his political career as founder of the Workers’ Party (PT).
Born to a low-income family in the state of Pernambuco, Lula worked several blue-collar jobs to help sustain his family, including shoe-shining, street vending, and factory labor in an automobile parts warehouse. It was during this time that Lula suffered an accident while on the job, severing his left pinky finger. The poor workplace conditions he and his coworkers faced along with the lack of executive attention paid to his injury drew him into the labor movement in the greater ABC area of São Paulo.
Eventually, Lula was elected as president of the Steelworkers’ Union in 1975 and organized mass protests and strikes in pursuance of better labor conditions, fairer working hours, and the protection of working class rights in the metallurgy industry. He also spearheaded the Diretas Já! movement that clamored for the direct popular vote in the 1989 election cycle, making it the first democratically determined election since the Coup D’état in 1964.
After a series of losses, Lula won the presidential vote in the 2002 federal elections and began his mandate in January of 2003. As president, Lula made a number of decisive changes to the structure of governmental aid and infrastructure ranging from eliminating hunger through the “Fome Zero” (“Zero Hunger”) project to the urbanization and sanitation of favelas throughout the country.
He also created Brazil’s most extensive assistance program, titled “Bolsa Familia” (“Family Allowance”), which provided a stipend to 13 million low-income Brazilian families, helping with access to food, school supplies, and clothes. This is the most comprehensive social aid program in Brazil to this day, and it influenced the creation of similar systems in 20 countries, including the United States (i.e., Opportunity NYC).
Lula’s presidential terms also reflected the growth of Brazil in the foreign policy sphere, now playing a larger role in Mercosur as Latin America’s ringleader. Lula was an international mediator, helping repair severed ties between the United States and Venezuela by welcoming Presidents Hugo Chavez and George W. Bush as political associates. He was the first Brazilian President to recognize Palestine as a State, prompting other Latin American countries to follow suit.
Amidst initiatives to provide affordable housing and strengthen public-private relations in the economy, Lula championed efforts against deforestation in the Amazon. Each year of his term marked a decrease in deforestation rates throughout the country, beginning in 2004. Alongside that, Lula also participated in missions to protect Native conservation areas from logging threats in the greater Amazon.
The majority of these achievements have been undone in the last four years by the Bolsonaro administration. Hundreds of thousands needlessly lie in graves due to a lackluster pandemic response, Brazil once again joins the UN Hunger Map as a food-insecure country, and the BRL-USD conversion rate is at its highest level.
Only now, with the re-election of Lula into office, can Brazilians hope for a brighter future comparable to that of the 2000s. 39 goals have been outlined for Lula’s next four years — notably his final year in world politics — involving Human and Social Rights, Education, Economy, Infrastructure, Environment, Public Health, and National Security.
As a Brazilian myself, I retroactively look at my country over this last decade and see the potential we missed out on due to poor politics and power-hungry politicians. I see this election as a turning point in our history, one where the people chose love over hate, progress over stagnation, and peace over violence. Brazil has everything it takes to stand out as an international superpower and example to the Global South. I envision a unified Latin America emerging in the world as defender of the working class, the Amazonian ecosystem, and most importantly, democracy.
