Bolsonaro had received an endorsement from President Trump. His time in office was marked by militarization, deforestation, violence toward indigenous populations, and bigoted and racist rhetoric.1
Lula da Silva previously served two terms as President between 2003 – 2010. During this time, he expanded innovative social programs such as the Bolsa Familia, which provided direct cash transfers to low-income families, allowing and incentivizing parents to send their children to school rather than to work.2 Bolsa Familia soon became the largest-reaching conditional cash transfer program in the world, estimated to have benefitted 11.1 million families (46 million people!).3 Lula plans to improve and expand upon such social programs in his new term.
Lula’s upcoming term in office holds promises for the environment. Brazil is home to just over 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest. Under Bolsonaro’s presidency, primary forest loss in Brazil skyrocketed — losing more than 8.4 million acres from August 2019 – July 20214, and accounting for over 40 percent of global forest loss in 20215. Lula da Silva’s commitment to curbing deforestation and nurturing Brazil’s biodiversity could be a model for global climate leadership working to constrain climate change.
Here in the U.S., we can learn a lot from this intervention on authoritarianism: the Brazilian people set a mandate for better conditions for workers, their families, and for the environment. Lula’s victory — as well as recent wins for progressive politicians in Chile, Argentina, and Colombia — gives us hope that the left can, and will, respond to this alarming rightward trend in global politics.
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