RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilians have won a narrow victory over Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a bitter presidential election, giving the leftist former president a chance to reject the far-right policies of current President Jair Bolsonaro.
Da Silva won 50. 9% of the vote and Bolsonaro 49. 1% according to the country’s electoral authority. However, the morning after the effects were announced, and congratulations from world leaders poured in, Bolsonaro had yet to publicly relent or react in some way, even as truckers. They blocked some roads across the country in protest.
Bolsonaro’s crusade had made repeated, unproven accusations of imaginable electoral manipulation before the vote, raising fears that, if he lost, he would not settle for defeat and would back down to question the results.
For da Silva, the high-stakes choice was a surprising comeback. His imprisonment for corruption left him out of the 2018 election won by Bolsonaro, who used the presidency to promote conservative social values while delivering inflammatory speeches and testing democratic institutions.
“Today, the winner is the Brazilian people,” da Silva said in a speech Sunday night at a hotel in downtown Sao Paulo. Democracy is victorious”.
Da Silva promises to govern beyond his party. He says he will bring in centrists and even some on the right, and repair the kind of prosperity the country enjoyed when he last served as president between 2003 and 2010. However, it faces headwinds in a politically polarized society.
Bolsonaro’s 4 years in power have been marked by proclaimed conservatism and the defense of classical Christian values. He claimed that the return of his rival to force would introduce communism, the legalization of drugs, abortion and the persecution of churches, things that did not happen in the first 8 of da Silva. years of validity.
It was the country’s closest election since its return to democracy in 1985, and the first time a sitting president has not been re-elected. A little more than 2 million votes separate the two candidates; The last closest contest, in 2014, was by a margin of about 3. 5 million votes.
Some of Bolsonaro’s supporters outside his home in Rio on Sunday night denounced electoral fraud. And overnight, truck drivers supporting Bolsonaro blocked several highways across the country, adding a stretch of the Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo highway, local media reported. Videos posted on social media early Monday morning showed a total halt in traffic. Similar reports have emerged in several other states.
Da Silva’s victory continued a wave of recent left-wing triumphs in the region, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.
The president-elect will inherit a tense country after his inauguration on Jan. 1, said Thomas Traumann, an independent political analyst who analyzed the effects of Biden’s 2020 victory on Sunday.
“Lula’s great challenge will be to pacify the country,” he said. “People are only polarized on political issues, but they also have other values, identities and opinions. In addition, they care about the values, identities and opinions of the other party. “.
Among the world leaders who presented their congratulations on Sunday night was US President Joe Biden, who highlighted the country’s “free, fair and credible elections. “The European Union also praised the electoral control authority for its power and transparency throughout the campaign.
Bolsonaro had led the first part of the count, and as soon as da Silva passed him, cars on the streets of downtown Sao Paulo began honking their horns. People in the streets of Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema community can be heard shouting, “It’s transformed!”
Da Silva’s siege of the hotel in downtown Sao Paulo only erupted once the final result was announced, underscoring the tension that is the hallmark of this contest.
“Four years waiting for this,” said Gabriela Souto, one of the few supporters allowed in heavy security.
Outside Bolsonaro’s home in Rio, floor 0 for his base, a woman on top of a truck said a prayer over a loudspeaker, then sang excitedly, seeking to generate power as the count rose for da Silva. But the green and yellow enthusiasts responded slightly. Many woke up when the national anthem played, making a song loudly with their hands on their hearts.
For months, da Silva appeared headed for a simple victory while stoking nostalgia for his presidency, when Brazil’s economy was booming.
Bolsonaro’s administration has been widely criticized for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in 15 years. But he has built a committed base by presenting himself as a hedge that opposes left-wing policies that he claims they infringe. in individual freedoms while generating economic confusion and ethical rot. He tried to bolster in an election year with heavy government spending.
“We don’t face an opponent, a candidate. We are facing the device of the Brazilian state placed at their service so that we cannot win the elections,” da Silva told the crowd in Sao Paulo.
Da Silva implemented an extensive social coverage program during his tenure as president that helped elevate tens of millions of others into the middle class. to call him “the greatest popular politician on Earth. “
But he is also remembered for his administration’s involvement in vast corruption through extensive investigations.
Da Silva was jailed for 580 days on corruption and money laundering charges. His convictions were later overturned by Brazil’s supreme court, which ruled that the sentence he presided over had been biased and in collusion with prosecutors. This allowed da Silva to run for president for the sixth time. time.
Da Silva pledged to increase spending on the poor, restore relations with foreign governments and take ambitious steps to illegally log the Amazon rainforest.
“We are going to monitor and do surveillance in the Amazon. We will combat all illegal activities,” da Silva said in his speech. “At the same time, we will promote the sustainable progress of communities in the Amazon. “
The president-elect pledged to create a ministry for the peoples of Brazil, which will be headed by an indigenous person.
But while da Silva pursues those and other goals, he will face strong opposition from conservative lawmakers.
This year, unemployment has fallen to its lowest point since 2015, and while headline inflation slowed the campaign, food costs are emerging at double-digit rates. Bolsonaro’s social benefits helped many Brazilians survive, but da Silva presented himself as the candidate with the maximum to maintain long-term aid and raise the minimum wage.
In April, he called center-right Geraldo Alckmin, a former rival, to be his running mate. It is another key component of an effort to create a broad pro-democracy front not only to oust Bolsonaro, but also to facilitate government.
Building bridges between a divided country will be key to its success, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.
“If Lula manages to speak to the electorate that did not vote for him, which Bolsonaro has never tried, and seeks negotiated answers to the economic, social and political crisis that we have,” Melo said, “then he can reconnect Brazil to a time when other people disagree and still do safe things.
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Carla Bridi contributed to this from Brasilia.