The millions of Brazilians who went to the polls on Sunday have delivered the far right its most decisive triumph since the end of the country’s military dictatorship in 1985. The race pitted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup. As it has consistently since 2014, the right outperformed its final polls, with Mr. Bolsonaro winning 47 percent to Mr. Lula’s 45 percent. The two will head to a runoff on Oct. 25, with Mr. Bolsonaro looking poised for victory.
Economic grievance, backlash against cultural change, polarization and the erosion of democratic guardrails are among the reasons voters are turning to far-right leaders. In Brazil, Mr. Lula and his supporters add foreign interference, pointing to the Trump administration’s efforts to tip the scales for Mr. Bolsonaro through tariffs, visa revocations and State Department funding. A Flávio Bolsonaro presidency would give Washington another subordinate partner in Latin America and could bring a pardon for his father.
Another crucial answer lies in how Brazilians take part in civic life. Since Brazil’s transition to democracy, marginalized groups have experienced improbable gains. From 2003 to 2014, Mr. Lula and Dilma Rousseff made huge strides in reducing poverty. More recently, the Supreme Court tried and convicted Jair Bolsonaro for plotting to stay in power. However, a huge corruption scandal has thrown the Court into crisis, and Brazilians now distrust it more than any other institution.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing