Brazilians elected Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva to the presidency again on Sunday, October 30, in the second round of elections, which was contested against current president Jair Bolsonaro.
A tight victory for Lula, with less than 2% of valid votes, but no less significant, as it represents the return of the left to power and concludes a triumphant personal comeback for Lula, after a series of corruption charges that led to his imprisonment for 580 days. The sentences were later annulled by the Supreme Federal Court, paving the way for the politician to run for the highest office in the country again.
“They tried to bury me alive and I am here,” he said during the victory speech to supporters and journalists on Sunday night, describing the victory as his political “resurrection.”
“As of January 1, 2023, I will govern for the 215 million Brazilians, not just for those who voted for me. There are not two Brazils. We are one country, one people, one great nation,” Lula said.
On January 1, he will take over a country plagued by great inequality, still struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Approximately 9.6 million people fell below the poverty line between 2019 and 2021, and literacy and school attendance rates also declined. He will also face a deeply polarized nation, given the close election results, and urgent environmental issues, including rampant deforestation in the Amazon.