Americas

Brazil’s Bolsonaro expected to break silence after election loss

It is unclear if far-right nationalist will accept victory of leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

A demonstrator moves tyres to make a burning barricade as supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro block a road in Varginha, Brazil to protest against the results of the presidential run-off. Photograph: Pedro Vilela/Getty Images

Tue Nov 1 2022 - 06:32

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, will not publicly address his defeat in the presidential election until Tuesday, a minister said, amid doubts over whether the far-right nationalist will accept the victory of leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Mr Bolsonaro was holding off on making remarks so he could return to his residence Monday evening and prepare a speech, Communications Minister Fabio Faria told Reuters.

It was not clear if Mr Bolsonaro would concede defeat.

Truckers who support Mr Bolsonaro blocked roads in 20 states to protest Mr Lula’s victory, an action that could affect agricultural exports in one of the world’s top food producers and cause wider economic chaos.

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Truckers who support Brazil's outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro have escalated their protests by blocking roads in sixteen states. (Reuters)

US president Joe Biden congratulated Lula on his victory during a call on Monday, the White House said in a statement.

Argentinian president Alberto Fernandez travelled to Brazil to meet Mr Lula and congratulate him on Sunday’s election win, calling him a “partner to work with and dream big with”.

Mr Lula’s win consolidates a new “pink tide” of leftist electoral triumphs in Latin America, with Brazil joining Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Mexico in a growing leftist bloc.

Mr Fernandez joined other leftist and centre-left leaders who promptly celebrated the election result.

“Long live Lula,” tweeted Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, who in June was elected his country’s first leftist president.

Environmentalists, world leaders and sustainable investors cheered the victory of Mr Lula, who has promised to protect the Amazon rainforest and restore Brazil’s leadership on climate change.

In his victory speech, Mr Lula pledged to clamp down on illegal logging, mining and land grabbing that have driven the surging deforestation of the Amazon over the past four years under Mr Bolsonaro.

Mr Lula’s environmentalist ally Marina Silva told Reuters that the president-elect would signal Brazil’s renewed global leadership on climate change by sending representatives to next week’s Cop27 United Nations climate summit in Egypt. — Reuters

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