Jair Bolsonaro lost the presidential election, but like Trump’s idol, his movement went nowhere

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On the left, tears of joy and deep relief. On the right is anger and resentment. On Sunday, Brazil elected former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to the post of president again.

Lula, a left-wing figure revered by millions of Brazilians, beat the current far-right icon, President Jair Bolsonaro, by a slim margin of less than 1 percent.

“We have defeated fascism, division and hatred, and now is the time for Brazil to heal, unite and work for a more just society and protect the beautiful Amazon rainforest,” said Lula supporter Maxi Quaresma while celebrating in São Salvador Square in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Laranjeiras.

São Salvador Square is the favorite hangout for left-leaning Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro. But conservatives describe it as an “undesirable place for layouts.”

Evangelist Juana Cuesta makes the sign of the cross upon hearing the name of the square. She had been praying for Bolsonaro with dozens of fellow worshipers all Saturday night into the early morning and she was completely exhausted. But determined not to miss this historic election, she went to cast her pro-Bolsonaro vote. Cuesta is part of a rapidly growing evangelical movement that sees Bolsonaro as a protector of their way of life and a protector of Brazil as a potential superpower.

“My Mito is the only savior of our country,” she said Sunday morning, referring to Bolsonaro’s nickname — the legend — among his fierce supporters.

Cuesta spent Saturday night under the open sky in the makeshift chapel. Dozens of plastic chairs and a small altar did the trick. It was draped in the Brazilian flag, with many others in national football shirts. This is because Bolsonaro has identified his personality and movement as the core of the Brazilian nation.

We are the real Brazil. Lulistas I just want to run this country on Earth, steal away, and Lula is the leader of their gang. Since the pandemic, they have been calling for help. And now with inflation, it’s even worse. But we can’t keep giving them things for free. “We will go bankrupt and end up like Venezuela,” Cuesta said.

For weeks on end, both political camps have been at each other’s throats. All over the neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro, they shout between matches Lulistas And the Bolsonaristas was on display. Under the silent gaze of the Huge Cristo Redentor The statue, which overlooks Rio atop a 2,300-foot mountain, had neighbors growling at each other from their windows and balconies throwing insults, communist or fascist, until their voices turned dry.

“We’ve never seen this kind of polarization in Brazil,” said Thomas Truman, who served for four years as a spokesman for Dilma Rousseff, the country’s first female president. He believes that the right wing in Brazil is now following Trump’s playbook.

Just like Trump, Truman predicts, Bolsonaro will never accept electoral defeat and will continue to claim that the left stole the vote in a rigged election. “I am afraid that we will review our copy on January 6, 2021, when Trump personnel stormed the Capitol. The only difference is that our main date is November 15, when Brazil celebrates the anniversary of the founding of its republic.”

This year, politics has consumed the psyche of Brazil. Even football, the pride of the nation, is often compared to religion here in Brazil, ranked second.

“This may be the first time that football cannot remove the stress and anxiety from the troubled mind of millions of Brazilians,” said Sergio Settani Giglio, a professor at Campinas State University. Settani Jiglio has written extensively about the phenomenon of Brazilian football and its impact on society.

He also borrows from current US politics when he says this election was a battle for the soul of the nation, recalling Joe Biden’s presidential campaign slogan.

Many on the left believed that four more years of Bolsonaro’s rule would turn the country into a police state dominated by evangelicals and big agribusinesses.

“I don’t recognize this Brazil. On that day, a man on Copacabana Beach came up to me with a gun in a swimsuit only to threaten me,” said a middle-aged man who introduced himself as Marcelo. Marcelo is openly gay and was at the bar with his friend in Ipanema Beach.

Brazilians on the right look at people like Marcelo, but insist in conversations that the real threat is Lula’s massive government spending and corruption. And according to many of them, his government will cancel the dream of a truly great Brazil.

Lula’s ambition is to compete with India at best. But our bar is much higher. We could be there with the US,” Joanna Cuesta said.

Donald Trump comes up again in our conversation, particularly his “Make America Great Again” slogan.

Now with Lula in power? Cuesta concluded after a short pause, we’re more like Make Brazil Great Someday.

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