Irish Examiner view: Outcome of Brazil's election will have a direct impact on climate

If former president Lula is elected again, he will need the support of the entire global community

The incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, has presided over rapidly increasing deforestation in the Amazon basin, and 680,000 Brazilians died in the pandemic under his watch. Picture: Andre Coelho/AP

All the early indications in the election in Brazil — the world’s fourth largest democracy — indicate defeat for the hardline nationalist Jair Bolsonaro who has presided over rapidly increasing deforestation in the Amazon basin and whose management of the Covid epidemic, when 680,000 citizens died, was disastrous.

If the nation’s electronic voting system delivers victory for his left-wing opponent this will constitute a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 

That would be Lula on the back of the yellow, green, and blue national team football shirt, which would be a nice touch given that Bolsonaro has gathered the support of stars such as Neymar and Lucas Moura along with former legends Ronaldinho and Rivaldo for his campaign and that the shirt has been hijacked by supporters attending his rallies.

Lula, from the north-east of Brazil, is a former factory hand and union leader who became his country’s first working-class president in 2002, stepping down in 2010 with approval ratings of around 90%. But he became enmeshed in a web of corruption allegations leading to imprisonment in 2018.

He was barred from running in that year’s election which was won by Bolsonaro who draws much of his support from evangelical Christians and Brazil’s largely white social elites.

Lula, 76, served 580 days in jail before his conviction was quashed on the basis that his trial was unfairly conducted by judge Sérgio Moro who later joined Bolsonaro’s cabinet.

In a campaign based on giving hope back to the masses and the underprivileged, Lula must win a clear majority if Brazil is not to be plunged into a month of second round campaigning with its implicit uncertainty and underlying threats of violence.

Bolsonaro, whose political heroes include the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Donald Trump, has declined to answer questions as to whether he will respect the outcome of the vote and implied that he has reservations about the integrity of the automatic polling machines. A run-off would take place on October 30.

Lula announced his sixth presidential run in May and promised to beat Bolsonaro in “the greatest peaceful revolution the world has ever seen”. 

Environmentalists are praying for his return. The indigenous rights group, Opi, founded by the murdered activist Bruno Pereira said: “With Bolsonaro we die, with Lula we live.”

Lula would have a giant task to halt rainforest destruction which reached record levels in the first seven months of this year under Bolsonaro. A report last week showed how some of the world’s biggest central banks are financing agribusiness giants linked to deforestation and land-grabbing. If he is returned, Lula will need the support of us all.

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