Lula da Silva’s election win renews hope for Brazil’s future

Brazil’s new president Lula da Silva has driven Jair Bolsonaro out of office with a narrow electoral win this weekend. This has renewed hope that the nation’s problems with gun violence, deforestation, and anti-LGBTQ+ policies can now be addressed.

Everyone loves a comeback story, and they don’t come much sweeter than this.

Two-time president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a third presidential term on Sunday in a narrow victory over his far-right adversary Jair Bolsonaro.

Previously sentenced in 2017 for corruption and money laundering – in what was largely lamented as a crooked persecution – the former metal worker served close to 600 days of a 12 year sentence before being exonerated in 2019. In that time, Bolsonaro took office.

His successor’s legacy included pro-gun policies, weakened environmental protections for the Amazon rainforest, a shocking response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have left Latin America’s largest country increasingly isolated from the rest of the world.

Pope Francis warned of Bolsonaro’s ‘blind and destructive mentality’ upon his instatement, which has reared its head in many inflammatory moments covered throughout the years on Thred.

The burden of responsibility now falls on Lula da Silva – by contrast, a man Barack Obama once described as ‘the most popular politician on Earth’ – to fix the mess at 77 years of age.

Tall as the order is, a look through recent history provides reason to be optimistic about his chances, and young folk are already rejoicing at the prospect of living in ‘new times of peace, love, and hope.’