Free elections often give surprise results

The best form of regime change is organic, coming from within the country and the people rather than being imposed from outside.

Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, scored an upset victory over his rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. It was expected by the corporate sector in Brazil and the US that Senator Bolsonaro, the son of former President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, would defeat Lula. The latter was unpopular with the corporates because he reversed the senior Bolsonaro’s approval of stripping the Amazon rainforest of its trees. During his term, chainsaws were regularly heard across the Amazon rainforests, chopping down trees that often were several decades old.

The Amazon rainforest is a gift of nature not just to Brazil but to the whole world, providing green cover over a large expanse of territory. Its loss would exacerbate the effects of climate change across the whole world, just as the melting of the ice caps of the Arctic and the Antarctic do, not to mention the plateau of ice which covers Tibet. Ultimately, it was the corruption surrounding the administration of the senior Bolsonaro, combined with several questionable dealings of Bolsonaro Junior, which gave Lula the edge to win a record fourth term  as the President of Brazil. It was a vote against the chopping down of trees and for the preservation of the environment that the majority of voters in Brazil opted for.

The result of the Brazil Presidential elections caused dismay in the White House. In his earlier term as President of the US, Trump had warned President Lula to stop his prosecution of Bolsonaro senior or else Brazil would be hit with a slew of tariffs. Lula ignored the threats and persevered in his efforts at enforcing accountability for the misdeeds of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

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