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Elections

Lula Da Silva: Victory Of An Immense Democratic Movement

November 3, 2022 Teri Mattson, Popular Resistance. , , ,
This is the inaugural episode of host Teri Mattson's weekly program, WTF is Going On in Latin America and the Caribbean, at its new home on Popular Resistance. You can watch the program live every Thursday on Popular Resistance's Facebook Page and YouTube Channel at 7:30 pm Eastern/4:30 Pacific. This week, Teri interviewed Michael Fox, an independent journalist and the host of Brazil on Fire, which is a Real News and NACLA production, about the recent presidential election in Brazil. Michael was in Brazil to cover the election. On Sunday, October 30, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva was elected to be the next president of Brazil in a stunning comeback following a tight runoff race against President Jair Bolsonaro. His victory is one of an immense movement returning democracy to Latin America's largest country after four years of Bolsonaro's far-right administration.

Biden’s Foreign Policy Sinking His Party And Ukraine

November 3, 2022 Jeffrey D. Sachs, Consortium News. , , ,
President Joe Biden is undermining his party’s congressional prospects through a deeply flawed foreign policy.  Biden believes that America’s global reputation is at stake in the Ukraine War and has consistently rejected a diplomatic off-ramp.  The Ukraine War, combined with the administration’s disruptions of economic relations with China, is aggravating the stagflation that will likely deliver one or both houses of Congress to the Republicans.  Far worse, Biden’s dismissal of diplomacy prolongs the destruction of Ukraine and threatens nuclear war.   Biden inherited an economy beset by deep disruptions to global supply chains caused by the pandemic and by former President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies.

Lula Wins Brazil Election: Game-Changer For Brics And Latin America

November 1, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. , , ,
Brazil’s left-wing former President Lula da Silva won round two of the election on October 30, despite blatant voter suppression by far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. Lula got 50.9% of the total, including over 2.1 million more votes than Bolsonaro. In his victory speech, Lula said his top priority will be to ensure that no Brazilian goes hungry. He likewise pledged to provide housing for the homeless, jobs and opportunities for the poor, better education, and equality for women. Lula was a co-founder of the BRICS system, which he has called to expand. He has similarly vowed to strengthen unity in Latin America and the Caribbean through institutions of regional integration like the CELAC, UNASUR, and MERCOSUR.

Brazil’s Supreme Court Orders Suspension Of Road Blockades

November 1, 2022 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. , , ,
As millions of Brazilians celebrated the return of Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva to the presidency on Sunday, October 30, supporters of outgoing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro began blocking roads across the country in the latest attempt to undermine the historic election. The actions caused major disruptions throughout Monday, ultimately forcing the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to intervene. Lula, of the Workers’ Party (PT), emerged victorious securing 50.9% of the votes against Bolsonaro’s 49.1% share. However, the far-right incumbent refused to officially concede defeat, canceled a press statement and isolated himself in the presidential palace, even as major allies accepted the election result.

What Can The Western Left Learn From Lula’s Breathtaking Victory?

November 1, 2022 Alex Fleck, Brasil Wire. , , ,
The Worker’s Party in Brazil has just won the most contested election in the country’s history. From a jailed politician up until 2019 to now the president elect with the largest amount of votes in the country’s history, Lula built a formidable coalition in order to overcome all obstacles, smears, and illegal use of public funds that would be used against him. The extent to which Bolsonaro moved every lever he could to get reelected cannot be overstated. At the beginning of the year, the federal government pushed through Congress a 50% increase in the direct cash payment program “Auxilio Brasil”, Bolsonaro’s rebranded version of “Bolsa Familia”, a worker’s party program. The move also expanded to include more families on the program. Then, after the first round of voting, his administration used State-owned banks to start offering government-backed micro-loans to beneficiaries of Auxilio Brasil.

Lula Da Silva Wins Brazilian Presidency

October 31, 2022 Lauren Smith, Covert Action Magazine. , , ,
Workers’ Party (PT) candidate, former president Lula da Silva, won the Brazilian presidency with just over 50 percent of the vote in the runoff election held on October 30. Incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing nationalist, received 49.10%. With a clear chain of ballot custody, the required presentation of government issued identification (ID), same-day voting at documented residential locations, site-specific paper tallies of ballots delivered in real-time (highly functional exit polls), no hackable internet connection for its electronic voting machines, open-source programming and no mail-in ballots, Bolsonaro’s repeated claims of election fraud remained unsubstantiated–even by the military that conducted an investigation at his urging in October during and after the first round of voting and found “nothing irregular.”

Brazilian Democracy Scores A Victory Against Considerable Odds

October 31, 2022 Gustavo A Maranges, Resumen English. , , ,
Just a few minutes ago, Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced Lula da Silva’s victory by over 2 million votes or 1.5%. Undoubtedly it was a tight race with many obstacles for the progressive candidate, but in the end, the people’s will to leave behind 4 years of a disastrous government prevailed. With over 99% of the voting stations counted, Lula won almost 51% of the votes, while his rival, the ultra-right-wing Jair Bolsonaro, achieved a concerning 49% of the votes. This runoff was similar to the first round’s turnout. In other words, neither of the two candidates managed to significantly mobilize those who did not take part in the political process in the first round. Apparently, Bolsonaro achieved better results as his numbers shrank from the first round’s difference by almost three million votes.al process in the first round.

What The 2022 Midterm Election Charade Offers Us

October 31, 2022 Stansfield Smith, Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
That neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are offering anything to alleviate the problems working people face is illustrated by their campaign fear-mongering – the former over “fascism” and the latter over “socialists” and “radicals.” No matter which party dominates the midterm elections, do not expect either will herald in fascism or socialism. Actual socialists in Congress would demand we stop instigating war with Russia, (now topping $66 billion), and instead eliminate homelessness (costing $20 billion) and hunger ($25 billion) as  emergency first steps. Those swayed by Republican propaganda need not fear impending socialism: 100% of the Democrats including Bernie, AOC and the Squad voted like neo-cons for tens of billions in handouts to military contractors to further war in Ukraine.

Today Is Brazil’s Chance To Bury Bolsonarismo

October 30, 2022 Francisco Dominguez, Tribune Magazine. , , ,
Moisés Mendes, a Brazilian journalist, recently wrote that the dissemination of fake news by the Bolsonaro camp had reached a level such that voters will miss the ‘mamadeira de piroca’. The reference is to the penis-shaped baby bottles with which Bolsonaro’s campaign inundated social media in 2018, falsely charging the Workers’ Party (PT) presidential candidate, Fernando Haddad, with distributing them in schools along with ‘gay kits’ to teach homosexuality. Film director Wagner Moura is convinced the ‘mamadeira’ won Bolsonaro the 2018 election. Mendes is right; since 2 October (the date Lula won the first round with 48%), the defeated Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters have spewed a huge amount of fake news against the PT presidential candidate and his supporters.

The Most Important Election In Brazil’s History

October 29, 2022 Bryan Pitts, Brasil Wire. , , ,
On Sunday, up to 156 million Brazilian voters will go to the polls to choose a new president in a run-off election. The stakes could not be higher. The far-right incumbent is Jair Bolsonaro, whose term (2019-2022) has been marked by endless controversy, accusations of corruption, and the death of more than 600,000 Brazilians in a woefully mismanaged pandemic. He will face the center-left former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose eight years in power (2003-2010) witnessed major reductions in poverty and inequality, sustained efforts to expand rights for marginalized groups, and unprecedented prestige for Brazil on the international stage. Although Lula defeated Bolsonaro by 5.2 percentage points in the October 2 first-round vote, he did not achieve the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The most recent polls show Lula leading by margins of 2-6 points.

Climate Activists Occupy Parliament After Sunak Announced As New PM

October 24, 2022 Harry Cockburn, The Independent. , , , ,
Dozens of climate and energy crisis activists have occupied the Central Lobby in the Houses of Parliament, hours after Rishi Sunak was named the UK’s new prime minister. Activists from Greenpeace and Fuel Poverty Action caused live interviews with MPs to be shut down and unfurled a banner reading: "Chaos costs lives". In a statement they said the action is designed to highlight the cost of living crisis, which has seen energy bills soar, and they are demanding that the next prime minister "starts putting the welfare of the British people before fossil fuel companies by properly taxing oil and gas profits and launching a nationwide home insulation programme to tackle fuel poverty". The protesters have linked arms and are reading testimonies from people struggling with their bills.

Voters Could Help Stem The Homelessness Crisis In L.A.

October 19, 2022 Annie Howard , In These Times. , , , ,
Los Angeles, California - After increasing nearly 25% between 2018 and 2020, the homeless population in the Los Angeles area has grown more slowly over the past two years. According to the latest count from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, L.A. County’s unhoused population grew from 66,436 in 2020 to 69,144 in 2022, an increase of 4.1%. While there are numerous reasons for this downtrend, government intervention has played an important role. Such measures as Project Roomkey, which used federal, state and local funds to keep more than 10,000 residents in hotels and motels during the Covid-19 pandemic, showed that even modest public programs can make a significant impact on the city’s housing crisis, even as the initiative’s remaining residents lost their housing at the end of September.

Trump Calls For Peace In Ukraine

October 15, 2022 Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report. , , , ,
Since the U.S. sponsored coup in Ukraine in 2014, taking a stand against the plan by the U.S. to use Ukraine as a weapon of war against Russia was a perilous stance for pro-peace and anti-imperialist forces. What made opposition especially difficult was that the plan was being executed by the administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama with the full support of the right-wing neoliberal establishment that controlled and still controls the U.S. state. But, while it was a challenge to oppose the many criminal adventures of the Obama administration, the return of that administration to power under Joe Biden has ushered in the acceleration and normalization of censorship, the blatant politicization of the investigative agencies of the state and a war fever that has gripped the culture.

Lula Vote Was Hit By Unexpected Abstentions

October 11, 2022 Brasil Wire. , ,
At the October 2 first round of the presidential election, Lula da Silva picked up 26 million more votes than the Workers Party candidate Fernando Haddad did in the 2018 first round, and bettered his 2006 highest tally by 10 million votes, near equaling the % vote share. The former president fell just 1.57% of taking the presidency, in an agonising night for supporters. Abstentions were the highest since 1998. That was last time a presidential candidate won outright in the first round. Lack of understanding of the runoff system, and media coverage of Bolsonaro’s higher than expected percentage of the valid vote count, added to an impression that frontrunner Lula had performed more poorly than expected, or even lost the first round.

Brazil At Crossroads

October 9, 2022 Elias Khalil Jabbour, Multipolarista. , , ,
The first round of the general elections in Brazil was held on October 2, and the results show that the country is at a crossroads. Former President Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, or PT) did not achieve victory in round one, and will face current far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in a run-off on October 30. Lula da Silva obtained 48.4% of the valid votes, while Bolsonaro reached 43.2%. The other candidates combined did not get 9% of the valid votes. The results of the elections point to a great paradox: despite being ahead of Bolsonaro, the Brazilian left did not obtain a significant vote for state governments and did not even win a third of the seats in the two chambers of the Congress, the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
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