In yesterday’s run-off election, the incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT) prevailed over the far-right Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL). Lula received 51.8 per cent of the vote, whilst Bolsonaro secured 48.2 per cent. Misereor welcomes the election result in Latin America’s largest democracy, but warns of difficult years ahead for human rights and environmental protection: in the simultaneous elections to the National Congress and Senate, as well as in the federal states, there has been a renewed shift to the right.

Regina Reinart, a Brazil expert at Misereor, highlights the election victory as a sign of democratic strength:

“The mobilisation of non-voters and the determined efforts since the first round have paid off. Five million more people cast their votes than in the first round, and Lula received ten million more votes than before. Turning the result of the first round on its head is an enormous achievement. It shows just how many people in Brazil have stood up for democracy. Our local project partners are overjoyed. For them, the stakes were high: the protection of the Amazon, as well as their rights as activists and as people fighting to preserve their livelihoods. At the same time, it is clear that the coming weeks and months will nevertheless not be easy. Bolsonaro has already announced that he will contest the election result – even though Lula won by a margin of more than four million votes. Brazil continues to face major challenges.”

Claudia Fix, head of Misereor’s Dialogue and Liaison Office in Brazil, witnessed election night in Brasília and commented that the situation remains extremely tense:

“Our partners are relieved that President Lula’s moderate reform agenda can continue – at least within the constraints of a lack of a parliamentary majority. Yet this relief is no cause for complacency: The re-elected President will have to deal with a Congress that is more conservative and far-right than at any time in Brazil’s history since redemocratisation. The government will be forced to devote a great deal of energy to defending what has already been achieved – and will have very little scope for policy-making. Furthermore, the elections have once again significantly sharpened the ideological divides. The election victory alone is far from sufficient to protect our partner organisations from destructive economic policies and new threats to human rights.”