Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at a rally of supporters this Saturday MARIANA GREIF (Portal)
A group of former European leaders joined forces with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the eve of this Sunday’s Brazilian elections, who wants to win the current president, far-right Jair Bolsonaro, not only for the South American country, but also in a crucial vote for the balance of the entire region. “The world needs a democratic and fair Brazil. Only a statesman like Lula can meet this challenge,” concludes a pro-democracy manifesto signed by leaders and former leaders of various persuasions.
Among the signatories are former President of the Spanish Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former French Socialist President François Hollande, former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Belgian Elio Di Rupo, Swiss Micheline Calmy-Rey and Italian Massimo D’ Alema, from progressive positions, or Romano Prodi, also former President of the European Commission, and Enrico Letta, both Christian-democratic.
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The text states that “the result of the Brazilian presidential election will have a decisive impact that will go far beyond its borders”. And they warn against the specter of authoritarianism. “When democracy is in jeopardy, all democrats must unite to defeat the far right. For this reason, we, former leaders of different political persuasions, support former President Lula’s candidacy for President of the Republic.”
Leftist Lula de Silva, who ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010, leads all polls and the latest polls show his candidacy is close to an absolute majority. The average of the polls conducted by EL PAÍS gives him 47% and is approaching 50% plus a vote that would give him a win this Sunday and prevent him from competing in the second round on October 30th. During the election campaign, Bolsonaro was used to pollute the electoral climate with constant attacks on the electoral system, which now focuses on the Supreme Electoral Court, mixing his roles as candidate and president, and handling doubts about the elections.
Because of the importance of the elections, Europe, Latin America and the United States are all very aware of the outcome. Brazil is the continent’s second largest economy, but the implications of this presidential election go beyond financial balances and will have enormous political reach in a region where some countries like Colombia or Chile have recently turned left.
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