Reader Q&A: After Lula’s sensational victory in Brazil’s presidential election, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent answers your questions
· theguardian.com · popularity 38/100 · 0 similar stories today · Politics & Government (Politics & Government)
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Summary
Having lost the first round of Brazil’s presidential election to far right rival Flávio Bolsonaro, incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spectacularly triumphed in the second. What comes next for Brazil? The Guardian’s Tom Phillips is answering your questions now. Ask a question: log in or sign up here to comment, or email conversations@theguardian.com Haranf asks: Has there been a significant decline in logging and deforestation since Lula has been president? Tom: Yes, there has been a historic reduction of deforestation, not just in the Amazon but also in the Cerrado savannah at the heart of Brazil. This has been the result of a major push by Lula’s government, under the leadership of former environment minister Marina Silva, who may now return to government having failed to win election to the senate. Lula’s efforts came after four years of destruction under Jair Bolsonaro, who governed from 2019 to 2022, and set about dismantling Brazil’s environmental protection agency, Ibama, and other efforts to protect the environment. Back then, environmental officials were effectively banned from talking to journalists like me. They were grim times for the environment. When I spoke to Marina Silva on Sunday night she was overjoyed that Lula’s efforts to protect the environment could continue now he had secured a second term. “My heart is happy and filled with gratitude to God and the Brazilian people,” she told me. “The thing I most feared was that our Indigenous territories would be invaded again [under another Bolsonaro government]. Now, I am certain that they will be preserved and that there is no risk of illegal miners returning to destroy these populations.” Tom: I think the left has been quite clever about reclaiming Brazil’s national shirt from the far-right in recent months. For years leftwing Brazilians shunned the jersey because of its association with Bolsonarism. The problem has been compounded by the association of some of the country’s top footballers, such as Neymar, with the Bolsonaro movement and family. But during this year’s World Cup and election I’ve seen lots of progressive people and politicians wearing it. There has been a concerted effort to make sure all Brazilians can feel pride in the shirt. At Lula rallies you now see lots of vendors selling yellow shirts with Lula’s name and his election number 13 printed on the back. On social media, Lula supporters have even been using the yellow shirt to get around what they see as the bias in terms of promoting left and rightwing content. By wearing the shirt, they believe they can trick the algorithm into turbocharging leftwing content, because it identifies it as being from the right. Let’s hope the trend continues. Continue reading...
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