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Lula defeats Bolsonaro in a close second round and wins the presidential election in Brazil

2022-10-30T23:16:36.114Z


In a tense contest marked by the denunciations of Lula's party, that they did not allow their followers to travel on the roads to get to the polls, the left won with 50.8% of the votes against 49.2% of the current president and will return to govern Brazil, the fourth largest democracy in the world. More than 156 million people were called to vote.


Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won the second round of the Brazilian presidential elections this Sunday, in an extremely close day that began with the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, leading and that saw the candidate from the left snatch the lead from the extreme right.

With 99% of the vote counted, Lula obtained 50.84% ​​of the preferences, a difference of more than one and a half points compared to Bolsonaro, who obtained 49.16%.

"Democracy," Lula limited himself to writing on his Twitter social network account with a photo of the Brazilian flag.

The day passed in the midst of denunciations by Lula da Silva's Workers' Party of roadblocks by the Federal Police to try to stop the vote in regions that favor the leftist candidate.

However, the president of the Superior Electoral Court, Alexandre de Moraes, assured that

these cuts did not prevent citizens from exercising their civic right and ruled out extending the voting hours.

Lula da Silva greets supporters after voting in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, on October 30, 2022. Rodrigo Paiva / Getty Images

These elections decided whether the world's fourth-largest democracy maintained its far-right policy course or returned a leftist to government.

There were doubts about whether or not Bolsonaro would accept defeat.

Bolsonaro - who led by more than three percentage points at the close of the polls and was progressively losing ground as the hours passed - was first in line to vote at a military complex in Rio de Janeiro, dressed in his green and yellow shirt. , the colors of the national flag, as he has done at his campaign rallies, The Associated Press news agency reported.

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"I hope the victory for the good of Brazil," he told reporters afterward.

“God willing, we will be victorious today.

Actually, Brazil will be victorious today.”

In Brasilia, the voting centers were already full in the morning.

In one of them, Luiz Carlos Gomes, a retired public official, said that he was decided by Lula.

"It's the best for the poor, especially in the countryside," said Gomes, 65, from the Maranhao region in the northeast.

"Before him, we were all starving."

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, after voting in Rio de Janeiro, on October 30, 2022. Bruna Prado / AP

More than 120 million Brazilians were expected to take part in the polls, but because voting is done electronically, the result is often available within hours of the afternoon polls closing.

Most polls placed Lula in the lead, although analysts agree that the margin has narrowed in recent weeks.

"We will choose what kind of Brazil we want"

For months, Lula seemed headed for an easy victory fueled by nostalgia for his terms between 2003 and 2010, when Brazil's economy was booming and social programs lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty.

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But in the first-round elections on October 2, Lula was the most voted of the 11 candidates with 48% of the vote, while Bolsonaro was second with 43%, which showed that the polls had considerably underestimated. the popularity of the president.

Many Brazilians welcome Bolsonaro's defense of conservative social values, and the president has won support with large social spending.

A man goes to vote in the presidential elections in Brazil, on October 30, 2022. Andre Penner / AP

Lula voted on Sunday in Sao Bernardo do Campo, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, where he lived for decades and began his political career as a union leader.

He was dressed in white, as he used to do during the campaign, instead of the red that is the color of his party.

“Today we will choose what kind of Brazil we want,

how we want our society to be organized.

The people will decide what kind of life they want

,” Lula told reporters.

“That is why this is the most important day of my life.

I am convinced that the Brazilians will choose during the plan under which democracy wins”.

In Brazil, the candidates who lead the first round tend to win in the second.

But political scientist Rodrigo Prando pointed out that this campaign is so atypical that a Bolsonaro victory cannot be ruled out.

The president obtained the support of the governors of the three most populous states and several of his allies achieved great victories in congressional votes.

"Politically, Bolsonaro is stronger than he imagined

," said Prando, a professor at the Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Sao Paulo.

“Mathematically, Lula is in the lead”

.

The governors of twelve states are also elected, including the most populous, Sao Paulo, as well as Amazonas and Bahia in the northeast.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after voting in the second round in Sao Paulo, on October 30, 2022. Andre Penner / AP

More than 150 million Brazilians can vote, although 20% of the electorate abstained in the first round.

The Supreme Court has issued a ruling allowing state capitals to provide free public transportation on election day, and both Lula and Bolsonaro have made efforts to boost turnout.

[Latinos are unhappy with both parties and their support in the elections is in danger]

Still, there were multiple reports of roadblocks.

The newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that highway police stopped more than 500 buses before 12:35 pm, citing internal documents and data, a 70% increase over the first round.

A woman shows her support for Lula da Silva's presidential candidacy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 30, 2022. Mauro Horita/Getty Images

The president of the electoral authority ordered the police to cease such actions and demanded explanations from the police chief.

The Workers' Party filed a request for the official's arrest.

Human Rights Watch expressed "extreme dismay" over reports of traffic stops and confusion on public roads.

The candidates have made few proposals for the country's future beyond saying they will maintain a large grant program for the poor, despite little fiscal space.

They have crossed criticism and launched smear campaigns on the internet, although the attacks from the Bolsonaro camp are considerably more numerous.

His four years in office have been marked by open conservatism and defense of traditional Christian values.

He claimed without evidence that Lula's return to power would lead to communism, drug legalization, abortions and the persecution of churches.

Lula and Bolsonaro face each other in a tense debate two weeks before the final vote

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“I am going to vote for Bolsonaro because I believe in his project, and I believe in the beloved Brazilian homeland, which is what he supports: family, God and homeland,” said Helena Alves, a 53-year-old retiree in Brasilia.

“He had very little time to govern because there was a two-year pandemic.”

Lula focused on Bolsonaro's criticized handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and said that the president did not take care of those most in need.

He also described Bolsonaro as an enemy of the Amazon rainforest, since he took power away from environmental authorities and his mandate coincided with an increase in deforestation.

In his campaign videos, Lula also criticized Bolsonaro for a strategy that diverted billions to lawmakers for his personal projects in exchange for political support.

It is known as the “secret budget” due to the lack of transparency about the final destination of the money, and Lula said that she had depleted funds for important social expenses.

But for many, the record of Lula's Workers' Party is just as undesirable.

An extensive investigation revealed the party's involvement in huge corruption scandals involving top executives and politicians.

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Lula himself spent 19 months in prison for corruption and money laundering.

The Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2019 on the grounds that the judge had not been impartial and conspired with the prosecution.

That did not prevent Bolsonaro from recalling the convictions to voters.

A possible return of Lula would be like letting a thief return to a crime scene, warned the president.

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The enormous digital mobilization of the president became evident in recent days when his campaign introduced new – and unproven – accusations of possible electoral manipulation.

That reignited fears that Bolsonaro could challenge the election result if he loses, as former US President Donald Trump, whom he admires, did.

For months he claimed that Brazilian electronic voting machines are prone to fraud, although he never presented evidence, even after the electoral authority gave him a deadline to do so.

"We don't know if this result will be challenged or not, and to what extent," said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.

"It's a very tough second round and a very tense Sunday, and the tensions could continue beyond today."

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-10-30

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